Some Fantastic
by GirlX2
Summary: When Felix's game starts to break down, our favorite foursome must venture into a new world to save it; The world of online gaming. My take on a sequel, basically. No self inserts, No OC pairings, no gamers getting sucked into the digital world. Just the fab four going on an adventure.
1. Chapter 1

Some Fantastic, Chapter One

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

"It's not a glitch." Felix murmured as he and Ralph passed through the barrier between the game and game central station. "We wouldn't be able to get out if it was."

"One of us wouldn't, anyway." Ralph muttered uneasily. "It's not _us_ Felix. The programming is as solid as ever."

"Then what is it?" Felix looked up at him, face alit with worry.

"I dunno buddy." Ralph motioned to Tappers. "I'm hoping someone in there will."

The last few weeks, something had been happening in Fix-It Felix Jr. The game just wasn't running right. Sometimes Felix didn't get his direction from the gamers, and a few patrons had complained. Luckily, Felix had acted fast when Mr. Litwicki tried it out, and managed to convince the arcade owner that nothing was amiss.

At first, Ralph was worried he was glitching, but there was no pixelated fuzziness, and Felix could leave the game easily.

Which meant something else was wrong.

"What if…what if it's the cabinet?" Felix asked hesitantly. "It is thirty years old, brother. Something might be broken."

"_No_." Ralph shook his head vehemently. If the hardware was the problem, they wouldn't be able to fix it. Which meant their plug would get pulled. It _had_ to be something else. "We'll ask around."

"Okay, but not a word of this to Tammy. You know how she worries." Felix smiled sadly. "Well, I guess you wouldn't, but she _does_ worry. I know."

Ralph shrugged. "If you say so. I can't see her worrying about anything other than a Cy-Bug eating the troops."

"You said it Brother." Felix scooted off to the 'good guy' corner of the bar. It wasn't an official designation or anything, but good guys tended to drink with other good guys. Ralph sidled over to an empty spot. He'd ask Tapper himself.

"Whatcha drinking, skinkbrain?" A cheerful, grating voice was accompanied by a slight weight on his shoulders.

"Hey Princess Pukerella." Ralph turned his head, and managed a smile. He didn't wanna to worry Vanellope either; she was just a kid, for Pong's sake. "How were the races?'

"Great! I lost the first round because Taffeta got a lucky candy missile, but the _next_ time…" Vanellope bounced excitedly on his shoulders, recapping her day.

Ralph's phony grin melted into a real smile. Vanellope's sheer enthusiasm never failed to cheer him up—or at least remind him that things weren't so dark as they seemed.

He still had friends, after all.

"…And then Gloyd wanted me to make a law about only racing twelve times in a row, but I told him the winners are always random, so _he_ said-"

"Alright, alright, cut to the chase!"

"It was a good day."

"Good." Ralph reached up, grabbed her, and set her on the bar. "Waddaya say, a couple root-beers to celebrate?"

"With a little—"

"With a little _nothing_. Root beer straight, or I'm taking you home."

She pouted at this. "You get to drink beer."

"_I_ am an adult." Ralph grumbled. "You can drink when you're older."

"But I'll never _be_ older!"

"Cry me a river, why don't ya."

Vanellope crossed her arms, but said nothing.

"Tapper, two root beers." He signaled as the bartender hurried past.

"Comin' up!"

Ralph caught both glasses in his massive hands as they lid down the bar. 'I hope Felix is doing better than me at getting some answers.'

"So, what about your day?" Vanellope sipped her drink.

"Uh, ya know, smash a window, knock Felix on the head with a few bricks, get thrown off, same old same old."

"And the Nicelanders?" Vanellope pressed suspiciously.

"They're treating me just fine." Ralph assured her.

"Good. Because I can get Calhoun to whup anyone I want." She said seriously. "She _promised_."

"Great." Ralph groaned. "_Another_ reason for her to kick someone's pixels."

Vanellope just laughed.

"Hey, you wanna blow this pop stand? I hear Mario's having a party." Ralph gave up on getting answers for the night; he wouldn't be able to get rid of Vanellope without raising suspicion.

"Nah, that dork Wario will be there. Can we go somewhere new?"

"Like where? There's no new games." Ralph said.

Vanellope smiled knowingly. "Are you suuuuuure?"

"Well, I was, until you did that evil little smile thing."

"There's a new game!"

"What is it? Shooter, platform?"

"A Muhmorpuhguh." She pronounced it slowly, with great enthusiasm.

"_What_?"

"I don't know, that's just what I heard." She shrugged. "I was sorta hoping _you'd_ know what it was. Guess I shoulda known better."

"Hey, I mighta known."

"Yeah, sure. So, ya wanna check it out?"

"Sure, I guess. Just lemme tell Felix something real quick."

"What?"

"None of your business, viceroy vile." He stood up.

"Fine, got talk to him, captain caveman." She stuck her tongue out and hopped off the bar.

He trudged over to the hero's counter, ignoring the stares. People still weren't quite used to his and Felix's new friendship. It's been only six months, after all. That weighed against thirty years didn't seem like much.

"Felix, I'm going with Vanellope to check out—Felix?"

The expression on Felix's face was one of sheer joy as Ralph approached. He was sitting with Pac Man, who was wah-wahing furiously. Felix wah-wahed something back, and turned to his friend.

"Pac man knows what's wrong! And he says it's _fixable_!"

"That's great!" Ralph pulled up a stool. "What is it?"

"He says the electronic capacitors in our cabinet are dried out, and Litwicki need's to replace 'em. That's why I haven't been getting my directions; the power's not working right!"

"Whoa, whoa. Litwiki's supposed to replace 'em? You know he doesn't know how to do that sort of work."

"So, he'll get the repairman to do it. We'll just wait in game central station while the cabinet's unplugged for repairs." The joy on Felix's face melted. "My land, I hope that doesn't take very long. It could be a real problem for the Nicelanders."

"You can all stay in the castle." A small voice piped up from below.

"Oh, _no_." Ralph groaned as Vanellope hopped onto the bar. "Don't you know eavesdropping is rude?"

"Hey, you left a child unsupervised in a bar, don't make me the bad guy." She said defensively. "What's this about needing repairs?"

"It's just a small problem." Ralph assured her. "Very, very minor. Wee, in fact."

"Wee, huh?"

"Yeah. No big thing."

Pac man wah-wahed something, and Felix gasped.

"R-Ralph…we m-might have a bigger problem than the capacitors…"

"What?"

"Pac man doesn't think Litwiki would recognize the problem on his own."

'What about the service guy? He should know."

"Litwiki just changed service guys! The new one hardly knows anything about games older 'n Vanellope's, let alone ours." Felix looked panicked. "Ralph, if they don't know it's fixable, they'll just pull the plug! We'll be homeless! We can't—"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Vanellope jumped to her feet. "Does he always freak out like that?"

"Only when things are really serious." Ralph said quietly. He laid a massive hand on Felix's shoulders. "It's gonna be okay, pal. We'll figure something out."

"_How_? Litwiki won't know what's wrong, and neither will the serviceman! We'll be unplugged!" Felix's panic wasn't about to be stopped. He hopped up onto the bar with a nervous **sproing**. "Ralph, we've gotta do something!"

"Like what? We can't _tell_ Litwiki." Felix said.

"Well, what if we left the information somewhere he could find it? Like on a computer screen?" Vanellope asked.

"How could we do that? There's no computers hooked up in the arcade." Ralph clapped his hand back onto Felix, keeping the handyman from bouncing around.

"Oh yes there is. The Muhmorpuhguh—it's an internet game! On a real computer and everything!" Vanellope grabbed Felix's hand in hers. "We can go there, get the information on the screen, Litwiki will see it, and you'll get fixed!"

"D-Do you think that'd really work?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt to at least check this game out, and see if there's something we can do." Ralph assented. "We've gotta do something before he pulls our plug."

"You've got that right, Wreck-It." A harsh voice barked from behind them. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like a few words with my _husband_ before we move out."

"Jimminay Jamminy." Felix hunched his shoulders and prepared to face the music. Tammy did _not_ like being kept in the dark…

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

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**A/N Rich Moore (the director) said the next movie (if there is one) could delve into the world of online gaming. So, naturally, my mind tried to concoct a way to get our favorite foursome into one. More to come, obviously.**


	2. Chapter 2

Some Fantastic, Chapter Two

By GirlX2

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Ralph and Vanellope waited awkwardly at the port labeled 'Magic Quest' while Calhoun gave Felix an earful. They'd silently agreed not to get involved. Calhoun would never lay a hand on Felix in anger, but she'd be fine with knocking Ralph's lights out. Just one of the perks of being a big guy.

On the other hand, _he _wasn't the one being held up by his collar by an angry woman.

"…And if you ever keep something like this from me again, I'll make you wish you were never programmed! Got it!"

"Y-yes ma'am." Felix looked miserable. "Tammy, I just didn't want you to worry!"

"Whatever. We've got a game to save." Calhoun grumbled, but set the handyman back on the ground. Her face softened slightly. "You sure you wanna come?"

"You couldn't keep me away with wild goombas." Felix said bravely.

"I think short-stuff should stay home." Ralph gestured to the girl on his shoulders.

'Hey, it was my idea, skuzz face. You're not leaving me behind!" Vanellope protested.

"The kid comes with us. She's a hard nut." Calhoun winked at Vanellope. Ralph muttered under his breath about 'girl power', but didn't protest further.

"Do you even know how to do this kind of thing, Calhoun?"

"I'm the most advanced game in the arcade. I think I can manage a simple fake email to Litwiki." Calhoun shrugged.

"A what-mail?" Felix and Ralph chorused together.

"Don't those things take forever to dial up?" Vanellope added.

Calhoun just groaned. "Never mind! Just trust me. We're gonna infiltrate this game, get to the programming center, and send the email."

"Sounds easy enough." Ralph said doubtfully. "Which means something is going to go horribly wrong."

"Got your hammer, Felix? We might need it."

"Sure thing."

"Then let's go." Calhoun stepped into the dark tunnel, with Felix hurrying after.

"You sure you wanna go through with this? It could be dangerous." Ralph tried one last time.

"Hey, Felix is my friend too. I'm not just gonna sit by and let you guys get unplugged." Vanellope said. "Move your molasses!"

"Okay." Ralph took one last look at game central station and plunged into the dark.

0o0o0o0

"Tammy? _Tammy_?" Felix cried out. "Tammy, please, say something!"

The darkness in the tunnel was all consuming. No train, nothing. Just total darkness and silence. Frightened, Felix spun around, trying to locate the exit. The light would guide him.

Except it was gone. No lighted doorway, no game central station beyond. Just darkness.

He swallowed and gripped his hammer tightly. 'Get a hold of yourself! Tammy's in here somewhere. Just feel around, and you'll find her.'

He reached one gloved hand out, but felt nothing. He tried to calm the clamor in his heart. What if Tammy wasn't okay? What if Ralph and Vanellope were hurt? What if-

A bright light bloomed into his vision, blinding him.

Felix shaded his eyes. "What in the world?"

"IDENTIFY." A voice boomed over him.

"Felix squinted against the light. "My name is Fix-It Felix Jr, sir. From the game, Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Fix-It Felix Jr…APPROVED." The mechanical voice boomed.

"Approved? What-"

"RACE…ELFLING."

"Um, I'm human, just small." Felix couldn't see anything but the blinding light. "Can you tell me-"

"OCCUPATION…CLERIC."

"A what? Sir I happen to be a handyman." He was getting annoyed. "If you'd please listen for a moment-"

"STARTING GAME…NOW."

The light vanished, and Felix blinked in surprise.

He was surrounded by trees, all brightly colored, but with realistic rendering. Tammy would look right at home here.

"Tammy?" He called, clutching his hammer. If anything had happened to her-

"Felix! Where are you?" Her voice came through the trees. "

"I'm here!" He called back, relieved.

"Stay where you are-I'll find you." She replied.

Felix looked around, but he couldn't spot her. "Ralph? Vanellope? You here?"

"Ralph, get me outta this tree!" Vanellope's voice cried out.

"I'm coming!" Ralph boomed.

Felix felt the ground shake as Ralph bounded closer. He turned, relieved that all his friends were alright. "Brother I-YIPES!"

The cry tore from Felix's throat as a monster came into view. It had green skin, fangs, and long, wild hair. Felix jumped, trying to hop into the nearest tree, but only get a few inches off the ground. There was no **sproing**, either.

"Felix! You okay?" The monster bent down, and Felix's heart nearly stopped from the shock

"R-Ralph?"

"Of course I'm Ralph. Who else would I be?" Ralph looked at him curiously. "What happened to _you_?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ralph gently grabbed Felix's head and pointed it downward. "I'm talking about the duds, pal."

Gone were his blue work clothes. He wore long blue robes, yellow boots, and a dark leather belt. His hammer seemed to be unchanged-part of the magic of it's programming.

"Your face…"

"M-my face?" Felix squeaked. "What's wrong with my face?"

"Well, for one thing, you're skin's red. Like, really, really red." Ralph grabbed his hand and pulled off the yellow leather glove. "See?"

"What in the world is happening?" Felix looked at his hand in amazement. The skin was indeed fire-engine red.

"I'm green!" Ralph stared at himself in wonderment. He was wearing torn remnants of battle armor and robes, but had no boots. His hands and feet were still enormous, even if they were green.

"Raaaaaalph!" Vanellope hollered from above their heads. "Help!"

They looked up. Directly above them, Vanellope dangled from the hood of a cloak off a tree branch. It was too high up for her to glitch down safely.

"She's purple!" Felix gasped as Ralph began climbing the tree.

'You're not looking so skin-toned yourself, Felix." Vanellope struggled to free herself. She was wearing blue robes, a blue dress, and thick black boots.

"Your ears are pointy!" Ralph said as he made it to the branch.

'So are yours." Vanellope looked dumbfounded as Ralph collected her.

"You three alright?" Calhoun jumped through the trees as the three regrouped.

"T-Tammy?" Felix gasped.

His wife stood clad in scanty leather armor, a short skirt, and little else. Her skin was a light blue, close to the color of Felix's own robes. Her ears had grown pointy, much like Vanellope's. She carried not a gun, but a long sword at her side.

"Felix, you okay?" She dropped to one knee.

"Jiminay Jaminay…" He murmured, averting his eyes. "Tammy, look at what your wearing!"

She did. "And?"

"Well, it's just s-so…well, I mean…" He stammered. "Aren't you cold?

"I'm fine, shortstack." She smiled a little. "You're allowed to look, you know. You're my husband."

"W-well, I guess so…"

She kissed him lightly. "You are adorable when you're flustered."

Ralph cleared his throat. "Um, I'm glad everyone's okay, but can someone explain what the heck happened?"

"Obvious, isn't it? The game assimilated us." She stood up, and looked at her sword with a frown. "Except for Felix's hammer, it seems."

"My land, was that what that voice meant when it called me an elfling?" Felix asked.

Vanellope burst out laughing. "It turned you into an elfling?"

"Hey, baroness boogerface, you're not in any position to make fun." Ralph nudged her. "What the heck are you?"

'The voice said I was a gnome." She shrugged. "You?"

Ralph's cheeks colored dark green. "Ogre."

"Figures. Calhoun?"

Calhoun shrugged. "I heard something about a Nymph. Not that that means anything to me."

"We're not stuck like this forever, are we?" Felix asked worriedly. He'd never be able to explain this to the nicelanders.

"Just until we get outta here, I suspect." Calhoun sheathed her sword. "So lets do what we came to do and get going."

"How are we supposed to do that? We don't even know where we are." Vanellope climbed onto Ralph's shoulder.

"We'll find someone and ask…um…"

"We'll find the central adventure area. That'll be where the programming matrix is." Tammy said. "So fall in, and follow me!"

She strode confidently into the trees.

"Think she really knows what she's doing?" Vanellope asked.

"I sure hope so." Felix hurried after her, trying not to trip over his new robes. He didn't like this new outfit at all.

He tried to hop to catch up, but his hop failed him again. He sighed and made a mental note; there'd be no hopping until this adventure was over. At least he still had his hammer. If someone, goodness forbid, got hurt, they'd need it.

"Halt!" Calhoun barked, and Felix skidded to a stop, nearly colliding with his wife's bare legs.

"What is it?"

She glared into the clearing before them. A number of people clad in brown peasant garb were wandering a small village. "Gamers."

"A-all of them?" Felix stared in amazement. It was like the entire cliental of the arcade in one spot!"I think so. Stick with me, Felix. This could be trickier than I thought.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

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**A/N Remember, feedback is loved and appreciated. Every review helps my drive to make a new chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3

Some Fantastic, Chapter Three

By GirlX2

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"Those are all gamers? Then why aren't they robots, like in your game?"

"Not a first person shooter." Calhoun answered the wrecker-turned-oger. "We'll have to be careful not to give ourselves away."

Felix swallowed nervously. "Surly there's gotta be someone we can ask."

"Look for the guys with question marks above their heads; they're NPCs, and will talk to us." Calhoun ordered. "Other than that, stay quiet and stay close. If we get into a duel and someone dies—"

"Yeah, yeah, we won't regenerate. We _know_." Vanellope was bouncing with excitement on her usual perch. "Let's go, let's go!"

She glitched forward into the crowd.

"Vanellope! Argh…" Ralph crashed after her.

"Back in formation, you line-jumpers!" Calhoun grabbed her husband's hand and tore after them. Felix skidded across the ground after her, toes brushing the dirt every so often. The villagers gaped in amazement as they went by. None of _them_ had red skin, Felix noted glumly. A few greens, purples, and blues, but no reds.

"You little—c'mere!" Ralph snagged Vanellope's hood. "You trying to get deleted?"

Vanellope smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"C'mon, now that everyone's looking at us, we might as well try and find an NPC." Ralph plunked her back onto his shoulder. "And you stay up there."

"Aww…."

"Soldier, break ranks like that again, and I'll tie you up with your own licorice." Calhoun growled.

"Sorry." Vanellope said meekly, scooting close to Ralph's neck.

"So, where do we look?" Felix tried to peer at the crowd, but all he could see was a cluster of legs.

"Ralph and I will scan. Just keep an eye out for trouble." Calhoun let go of his hand.

"I'll be sure to report an invasion of pixies." He kicked at the dirt, frustrated.

"You're cute when you pout." Calhoun smirked down at him.

"That's just dandy." He crossed his arms and turned his back on her, not helping the pouting image at all.

"Hey, hey! I see one, I SEE ONE!" Vanellope shouted. "Bright gold exclamation mark, due south!"

"Good eye, kid." Ralph spotted it, about a hundred yards away. "C'mon!"

They began fighting their way through the crowd. Everywhere, text boxes were flying through the air. There was constant chatter in the background as gamers spoke on headsets. Felix and Ralph had never seen anything like it.

"Jiminay _jaminay_, is it always this hectic?" Felix narrowly avoided being stepped on by another ogre. It was even bigger than Ralph.

"Most popular game format in the world." Calhoun said offhand. "There's a version of _my_ game that's an MMORPG, actually."

"You know what a muhmorpuhguh is?" Vanellope asked.

"Sure. Stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game."

"Oooh. So people all over the world can use their computers to play together?"

"Yep. Brings the unwashed masses together in a mess of newbs and masters that pleases no one." Calhoun sneered as another blue nymph flitted past.

Ralph watched the nymph with something other than a sneer on his face. "Whoa. Did you _see _her? How can they get away with that? Kids could be playing this!"

"They can and do, Wreck-It. Sad story of gaming in this century. March of progress takes no prisoners"

"That's awful." Felix murmured.

"Yeah." She agreed quietly. "C'mon, we're nearly there."

"This is gonna be easier than I thought. At this rate we'll be done in an hour." Vanellope almost sounded sad.

"Works for me." Ralph said. "I can't wait to get outta this stuff. Never really cared for battle gear."

"Coulda fooled me." Calhoun allowed herself a small smirk, remembering Ralph's foray into her game.

"Hey, we've all moved on." Ralph grumped.

The crowd parted slightly, and Felix finally saw what they were talking about. A small, wizened man with candy-pink skin and flowing gray hair peered curiously at them.

"Welcome travelers." He intoned warmly. "Have you come to seek aid and succor in our village, or provide your services for the coin of the realm?"

"…Was that English?" Ralph asked after a moment.

The man frowned. "Are you seeking a quest?"

"We're seeking central programming. We're not users, we're from another game in the arcade." Calhoun snapped.

The man's eyes widened. "You're just NPCs yourselves!"

"Well, that's not really the term we use, but I guess so." Felix piped up.

The man turned to Felix, and his jaw dropped. "AN ELFLING!"

Several heads turned at his cry, and not all of them were NPCs.

"Look, an elfling!"

"How dare he just waltz in here?!"

"He's gotta be a scout!"

"Get him!"

Before Felix could figure out what was happening, Tammy grabbed him and was hauling back for the forest. Ralph quickly ran in front of her and knocked people out of their way, roaring as he went.

To Felix's amazement, an angry hoard of people was _chasing_ them.

"Tammy, what's going on? He clutched her for support, head spinning. He'd never been the subject of a mob's rage!

Sadly, that was Ralph's territory.

"I'll explain after we're not dead." Calhoun snarled. She was holding him like a child, shoulders hunched as they flew through the forest.

"Ralph, they're catching up!" Vanellope was peering backward over Ralph's shoulder.

"I can see that!"

"Well, run fast-OWW!"

The 'oww' came as a branch knocked Vanellope off her perch. Calhoun tried to stop short, but still passed the racer.

Ralph skidded into an ungraceful turn. "Kid!"

Vanellope tumbled to a stop. The trees here were a lot harder than in Sugar Rush.

"I'm okay Ralph, I-EEK!"

The mob had nearly caught up, and were only a few steps away from her. Terrified, her mind froze. She threw up her hands, as if to ward off the angry mob.

To the amazement of her companions, a bolt of blue lightning shot from her fingertips. The man it hit, a flesh-toned humanoid, froze in his tracks. His skin faded from pink to gray.

He'd been turned to stone.

"Wha…" Vanellope's jaw hung open. She's never glitched like _that_.

"She's a mage!" A text box floated above the crowd.

"Uh…that's right!" Vanellope stood up. "If you don't get out of here, I'll turn you all into stone!"

She waved her hands mystically and Ralph closed the distance between them.

"Then, it's my turn." He cracked his knuckles menacingly.

There were a few mutters and angry text boxes, but the crowd slowly began dissipating.

"Um…Tammy? You can put me down." Felix spoke up after the last few players departed.

Well, everyone but the statue.

"Huh? Oh…right." She set him down and placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. "Good thinking there gumdrop."

"How the heck did you do that?" Ralph demanded, inspecting the statue.

"I dunno! I just wanted them to stop, and…that guy stopped."

"They called you a mage." Felix pointed out. "Must mean the game gave you some powers."

"COOL!" Vanellope squealed.

"Not cool. You've got no idea how to control them." Calhoun snapped. "No more of that."

"Hey, I learned to control my glitch, I think I can handle a little magic." Vanellope scowled at the sergeant, hand balled into fists on her hips.

"What if you accidentally did that to one of us?" Ralph argued.

"You're on _her_ side?"

"I'm on the side that keeps us alive." Ralph tapped the statue gently for emphasis.

"Fine. I'll _try_." Vanellope grumbled.

"Good." Calhoun shook her head. "We can't go back there in a group. I'll slip in and talk to the quest giver alone."

"Hold on a minute! Why were they after us in the first place?" Felix demanded. "We didn't do anything!"

"Not us, Fix-It. You." Calhoun corrected.

"Me?"

"If you didn't notice, you're the only lil' devil around these parts."

"Actually, I —"

"Which means, your race is a member of whatever the rest of these guys are fighting."

"Are you saying…I'm a bad guy?"

"...To them, at least."

Felix stumbled back against a tree, dumbfounded. A bad guy! Him! But he was…he was **Fix-It Felix Jr**! Hero to millions of gamers for thirty years! He'd never done a bad thing in his _life_.

"It's not just you. If we'd appeared in a different starting area, the three of us would be the bad guys." Calhoun said gently, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's the nature of the game."

"That supposed to make me feel better?" His breath was quickening with panic. He'd never _been_ a bad guy, he had no idea how to _be_ a bad guy. "There's a whole village full of…of…I don't even know what to call those things! And they want me dead because the game made me an _elfling cleric_! I don't even know what that is!"

Calhoun blinked in surprise. "Oh. That actually makes sense. You're a _healer_."

This stopped his panic in it's tracks. "What?"

"Your hammer; the game decided it made you a healer." She nodded at it. "My gun made it give me the warrior slot. And Ralph, I suspect, is a tank."

"Huh?"

"Big guy who deals damage and can dish it out as well as he can take it."

"Boy, that's you all over brother." Felix murmured.

Ralph shrugged. "Hey, if here it's a good thing, I'll live with it."

"And I can do magic because of my glitch!" Vanellope filled in the last blank. "This game is cooler than I though."

"Yeah, except now we're gonna draw attention just by being with Felix." Calhoun grumbled. "It's like if Pac man and the ghosts were different sides of an army; both have their morals and supporters, but they always _hate_ each other. There's no way a group like us would be traveling together, let alone questing."

"So…what do we do?" Vanellope asked what they all wondered.

"I don't know."

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Nope, I've never heard of a game called World Of Warcraft, why do you ask? (innocent whistling) Remember; reviews are my subsittute for love. Lol. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Some Fantastic, Chapter Four

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

"Our objectives haven't changed." Calhoun reminded them "A, find out where the central gamer's hub is, because that'll be where central programming is. B, access the code so I can send Litwiki an email detailing the specs on the cabinet C, get back to our own games before the arcade opens Monday."

"Good thing we have Sunday off." Ralph tried to find a bright spot.

"Yeah! We saved my game in way less time than that." Vanellope added.

Felix was sitting quietly under a tree, utterly dejected. He wasn't taking the 'bad guy' thing very well.

"We have two options; split the party or disguise Felix. I don't like either." Calhoun shot a dirty look at the statue. "Either way, we risk someone getting hurt. If I had my druthers, I'd send Felix home now."

Felix jumped to his feet, flustered. "Tamora! It's my game we're here to save, I won't just sit idly by."

"Not an option. I'm not sure how to get you out, and I won't have the answer until we hit central programming." Calhoun snapped.

"So...if we can't get into central, we'll be stuck here forever?" Vanellope asked hesitantly.

Calhoun gave her a grim smile. "See why I wanted to come alone?"

0o0o0o0o0

"You should have gone with her. No, _I_ should have. She's my wife. It's not right to send a lady into danger!"

Ralph watched Felix pace, letting him try and work out his frustration. The little handyman was feeling powerless and useless, something completely alien to him.

Calhoun had gone back to the town alone to speak to the NPC, leaving Ralph to guard Felix and Vanellope. Both men had argued to go with her, to which she replied "Sure, either Felix and I get spotted and don't have an exit plan, or we leave Vanellope and Felix here with no protection. Who want's to go _now_?"

Vanellope had raised her hand, but was shouted down. Now, she was sitting in a tree, posing as a lookout. She could make out the hustle and bustle of the town, but soon lost sight of Calhoun among the many inhabitants.

"Let's try to do something useful while she's gone." Ralph suggested. "Why don't you build a wooden crate? We can use that to disguise you when we go to central programming."

Felix stopped pacing, but he didn't look thrilled at the prospect of posing as luggage. "Well...I guess that's a pretty good plan. If you'll grab me some branches I'll see what I can do."

Ralph obligingly snapped off a few large limbs. He'd never questioned how Felix managed to make all kinds of things with just a hammer until he saw the man working up the new apartment building hidden in the back of the game. Now the concept of a magic hammer almost seemed a little silly.

Not that'd he'd tell Felix that. His ego had been wrecked enough for one adventure.

"Here ya go buddy. Need anything else?"

"I could use some metal. I can only make things I have material for." Felix began tapping the limbs into long, straight planks of wood. "Without some nails, this won't be a very good crate."

"I bet I can magic some up." Vanellope glitched down the branches.

"No, no more magic! You promised Calhoun." Ralph waved the notion off.

"Aww, what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"No, but it might end up hurting _me_. She'll kick my green behind up and down this forest if I let you disobey orders."

"Maybe you could find some metal." Felix suggested.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure they just leave stuff like that lying around!" Vanellope said sarcastically.

To everyone's amazement, a bright gold question mark appeared above Felix's head with a **bloop**.

"Oh my..." Felix jumped back, but the mark followed him. "What _is _this thing?"

Ralph gently reached out and touched the mark. A text box appeared.

"New quest objective; find four pieces of scrap metal in the forest." Ralph read. "I guess they _do _leave stuff lying around."

"Okay, so, where do we find it?" Vanellope asked.

As if in response, a picture replaced the text, showing a rusty gear with blue sparkles surrounding it.

"Glitter." Ralph shook his head. "You sure we're not in Sugar Rush?"

"No, but it's a great idea." Vanellope grinned. "Whoever finds the most metal wins!"

She darted off between the trees.

"You little ragamuffin, stay in my sight-line!" Ralph bellowed and chased after her.

Felix, at a loss, tried to lose the question mark, which had now turned white. It followed him like a balloon on a string.

"Well that's just hunky-dory." Felix huffed. _Another _thing to make him stand out.

He grabbed the nearest limb and began banging on it with more force than was strictly necessary.

"Some hero you've turned out to be, Junior. Everyone around wants you dead, your wife is fighting your battles for you, and now you can't even whomp up a simple crate without Ralph and Vanellope searching all over creation!"

He tossed the plank onto an ever-growing pile.

"You can't go home, and even if you could, it would just mean your plug will get pulled. Can't even save your own _game_."

There were more boards than he'd need for a crate, but he just kept hammering.

"This...this...this is not what being a hero is supposed to be like!" He smashed his hammer into the dirt.

Surprised, he looked around the clearing. He was out of branches.

"Oh my land..." He murmured wide eyed, before dusting the hammer off before returning it to his belt. He'd never felt that cross before. Not even when Ralph had game-jumped.

He didn't like the feeling one itty-bitty bit. Was it some trick of this game? Something connected to his red skin and pointed ears?

Tamora _had_ called him a little devil at that.

Felix shuddered. He wanted to go home. Now. But he'd stay until the job was done, no ifs, ands or buts about it. And if that meant keeping his temper in check, well, he'd just have to rise to the occasion.

He was a hero, whatever the people in this game thought, and he was going to act like it.

0o0o0o0

"Two pieces already! How about you, fish-face?"

"I'm right behind you, newt-nose." Ralph held one large gear in one hand, and Vanellope's two smaller ones in the other. "Just need one more. And if we tie, I win."

"No fair, why?"

"Because you're faster than me, and closer to the ground. You have an advantage."

"Hmmph. _Fine_."

To Ralph's delight, he spotted a gear sparkling a few trees away. Vanellope was scouting the in the other direction. He snuck over to it as quietly as his 600+lb frame allowed, half expecting Vanellope to spot him and glitch over to snag it, as she'd done with the last gear.

He scooped up the metal, twice as big as the other pieces combined. A celebratory bar of music jangled out of nowhere.

"I win!"

"Awww..." Vanellope trudged over "You just won 'cuz you cheated."

"If that makes you feel better." Ralph just grinned. "C'mon, let's get this stuff back to Felix."

Vanellope glitched for a second. "W-where is Felix?"

"We came this w..." Ralph trailed off. He wasn't sure which way they'd come; the trees all looked the same. "Son of a Kong."

0o0o0o0o0

"Three hundred _miles_?!"

"Please miss, I don't make the rules, I just explain them!" The NPC cowered under the bellows of Calhoun. "There are several ways to make the journey. On foot, on a steed-"

"We don't have time for that!" She snarled. "There's gotta be a train or something, so spill it."

The man frowned. "Well, there is a train, but it's only for players of a much higher level than you. You'd get killed on it."

Calhoun growled under her breath. "Where is it?"

"Due north, a few miles. But I'm telling you, no way a bunch of first-level players can survive that train!" The man squeaked at Calhoun fixed him with a chilling smile.

"Good thing I'm not a player."

0o0o0o0o0

"I can't see him anywhere! The trees are too thick." Vanellope complained from atop a slender tree. "Feeeeeeliiiiix!"

No answer. They'd been shouting his name for twenty minutes with no luck.

"Just come back down. We'll have to try and backtrack the way we came." Ralph eyed the devastation he'd caused. "I'm sure we can follow it."

"I hope so, because if we're not there when Calhoun get's back, she'll want to take it out on someone." Vanellope looked a little worried. "And what if something happens to Felix?"

"I'm sure he's fine." Ralph scooped Vanellope up and they started following one patch of broken trees in what he hoped was the correct direction.

0o0o0o0o0

"G-get away, you! I'm not coming down!"

"You'd better come down here right now, ya little spy!"

"I am not a spy!" Felix clung to the tree, ignoring the little flakes of bark and leaves that cascaded down every time the man below hacked at it with his impossibly long sword.

The stone-spell Vanellope had cast on the player, had in short, worn off. The player was _not _a happy camper. Felix had climbed up the tree as quickly as he could in his hop-less state, but was now trapped.

"I just wanna kill you once! Come down and get it over with!" The man bellowed.

"No thank you!" Felix looked around, but could see no sign of Ralph, Vanellope, or his dynamite gal. He was on his own.

"Just take it like a man! You'll lose a little gold and respawn a mile off, you newb!"

"All the same, I'll stay up here." Felix called down. He couldn't reveal he wasn't really a player. That was just plain against the rules.

"Fine, if you won't come down, I'm coming up!" The man started to climb.

Felix pulled out his hammer. Maybe he could fashion a quick bridge between trees and-

A hand grabbed his leg, startling him. He yelped, lost his balance, and tumbled out of the tree. He hit all the branches on the way to the ground, slowing his fall, but he lost the grip on his hammer in the process.

He slammed into the ground, dazed. It felt like something deep inside had broken. He couldn't move.

"Wow, nasty spill." The man looked down at him, and climbed down the tree. "Anything left to say for yourself?"

"Yes." Felix groaned. "I...I'm sorry my friend turned you into stone."

The man's face went blank. "Huh?"

"She didn't mean to, sir, she's only a child. I'd like to say I'm sorry."

"No begging for mercy? Nothing?"

Felix pondered this. "I guess I don't see the point."

"Wow...that's...really really weird." The man didn't draw his sword. "Well, how about this; I'll let you live."

"I'd surely appreciate that."

"But I'm taking _this_." He scooped up the golden hammer.

Felix gasped. "Please don't."

"Hey, you can always get another one." The man shrugged and sauntered off into the trees.

"No, I can't! I..." Felix trailed off.

The man was gone.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued...

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Yep, you always hurt the ones you love, and I just adore Felix.**


	5. Chapter 5

Some Fantastic, Chapter Five

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

Felix lay still, trying not to pass out from the pain. He'd made the mistake of trying to move. He thought he heard someone call his name.

Not that it mattered. Even if he didn't die here, what good was he without his hammer? A hero was only as good as his tool.

Might be better if he...if he just...

He slipped into a daze, unable to complete the thought.

0o0o0o0o0

Calhoun hurried through the trees, not noticing how easily she navigated the way straight back to Felix, or eluded the roots and branches that would trip a human traveler. She had her intel, and that was all that mattered. They just needed to go north, get on the train, and ride all the way to the center of the game.

Now she just had to think of a way to get Felix there that wouldn't end in murder. It was a shame; she usually didn't mind murder.

She stopped a few yards from the clearing. It was way too quiet.

She jumped into the space, sword drawn, ready to maim anyone who had dared sneak in and attack her friends.

Her husband, bloodied and battered, lay motionless on the ground. Alone.

"Felix!" She dropped the sword and rushed to his side. His red skin had faded, almost to a pale pink, and his breathing was jagged. "Open those eyes soldier, or I'll knock you into next game cycle! I'll..."

She trailed off as Felix blinked at her. He managed a small smile. "Sorry Tammy. Someone beat you to the punch."

"Who did this?"

"The player Vanellope...the one she..." He moved one hand weakly, searching for the words.

"I gotcha. Where is he?"

"Left a little while ago." Felix's smile faded. "Tammy, he has my hammer!"

Calhoun's heart stopped. Without his hammer, Felix couldn't repair the damage that had been done.

"I'll get him." She stood, glancing rapidly. She soon picked out some bent twigs and blades of grass that told which way he'd gone.

"No! Tammy, please, don't go."

She forced herself not to look at him. "I have to or you you'll die. Your health bar is nearly drained."

"M-my what?"

"This." She tapped a small spot on his robes. A small box, mostly filled with red, expanded in front of their eyes. One green bar stood at the far end.

"If it goes all red, I die?'

She nodded. "We've gotta do something. I can't leave you with one bar."

"What can we do?" He asked, fighting to keep his eyes open. He just wanted to sleep...

"Felix!"

"Yes?" He snapped back to attention.

"Listen, the game said you were a cleric. There's gotta be something you can do to heal yourself."

"That's only with my hammer. I'm useless without it." Felix muttered and shut his eyes.

"No! You stay away!" She snapped, afraid to shake him.

"I...can't."

"Try for me." She pressed, and gently placed a hand over his. "Please, Felix."

"I don't know what I'm doing." Felix opened his eyes.

"Just concentrate on feeling better. If you're a cleric, you should have some magical energies stored up to heal."

Felix pondered this as well as his haze allowed. "How do you know so much?"

"I told you, there's a version of my game that's an MMORPG." She said impatiently. "Try."

He wanted to protest that that wasn't really an answer, but her command was too strong.

'Okay, Junior. She's counting on you. Just concentrate and try to...to...'

He had no idea what he was doing! Anger bubbled hotly below the surface. This..this game was...this game was stupid!

To Calhoun's amazement, Felix's features contorted into a grimace, not of pain, but of anger. Before she could react, a small blue flash covered him. Felix gasped.

His health bar gained a single green bar.

"You did it!" She tried to keep the delight out of her voice. It was only one bar, after all.

The anger spent, Felix just looked confused. "I don't know how."

"Nevermind. We'll work on it later." She tapped his health bar, and it vanished. "Where are Vanellope and Ralph?"

"They went to get metal. We were...I was..."

"Explain after I get your hammer back."

She vanished into the trees, ears deaf to his pleas, face turned. She didn't want Felix to see how close she was to tears.

0o0o0o0o0

"Look, I know it's around here _some_where."

"Good observation stinkbrain, everything is somewhere." Vanellope grumbled. "How long have we been walking?"

"What's this we stuff? You're just sitting!"

"I'm a child, I get tired without my candy."

"Great."

They'd been walking for about twenty minutes, and nothing looked familiar.

"We'll come out of the forest before we find him!" She groaned and clutched her stomach. "And I'm hungry."

"Look, we'll find some food after we find Felix, okay?" Ralph snapped.

Vanellope was quiet for a few minutes. "You're worried about him too?"

"Yeah, kid. A lot."

A nearby **crunch **drew their attention. Wordlessly, Ralph set Vanellope in the fork of a tree. She watched him, eyes wide, as the noise came closer.

A leather-clad man walked nearly into Ralph. His eyes were glued to a bright golden hammer clutched in one fist.

"Oh, man! You scared me." The man grinned up at Ralph.

"Where did you get that?" Ralph grabbed his arm and yank it upwards, separating the man from the ground. "TALK!"

"Whoa, whoa, I took it from some Elfling!" The man struggled. "Leggo!"

Ralph snatched the hammer. "Get outta here before I break every bone in your body."

"I'd like to see you try, you monster."

Ralph growled and swung a massive fist. It connected solidly with the man, knocking him into a large tree.

When he struck the tree, the man cried out in pain and vanished.

"W...what did you do?" Vanellope looked at the tree in horror.

"I have no idea." Ralph stared at his hands in shock.

Vanellope hopped out of the tree. "He came from that way, Felix must be over there!"

Ralph grabbed her in one massive hand and took off running. There was no way Felix had parted with his hammer willingly.

"Ralph, what if he's-"

"He's fine!" Ralph snapped, and Vanellope went quiet.

'He's okay. He's _gotta _be.'

0o0o0o0o0

Calhoun's sword was unsheathed as she ran heedlessly forward. She's kill the man that'd done this. Slowly. Painfully. With many different objects.

She was terrified. She couldn't think further ahead than getting to the man with the hammer, taking it back, and fixing Felix. She didn't think about how he was all alone and if anyone else came by he'd be at their mercy, let alone any animals or monsters that undoubtedly wandered through the forest.

Most of all, she wasn't thinking about what would happen if his health ran out while she was gone.

She was so busy not thinking about these things, she failed to notice Ralph and Vanellope until they barreled into her. Calhoun was knocked off her feet, but landed with only minor damage to her health bar.

"Calhoun!" Ralph, horrified by what he'd done, helped her to her feet. "We've gotta find Felix! This guy took-"

Calhoun snatched the hammer from Ralph and vanished into the trees.

"Go, go! She must know where he is!" Vanellope jumped down and glitched after her.

"Wait for me!" Ralph crashed through the trees, making an ungodly clamor. He had no hope of catching up, but he could keep them in sight if he ran as fast as he could.

Vanellope glitched besides Calhoun, not asking any questions. If she was running like this, something was wrong.

As they came into the clearing, Vanellope caught sight of Felix and let out a cry. He was laying on the ground, and there was blood, and he wasn't moving, and...

The little girl fell to her knees and hid her face. Nobody ever got killed in sugar rush. Not even close.

"Vanellope?" Ralph panted as he finally caught up. "Kid?"

Wordlessly, she jumped into his arms and buried her face in his shirt, little body shaking with sobs.

Ralph hugged her and walked to where Calhoun was crouched. He bit back a cry as he caught sight of his partner.

Felix lay there, unmoving, eyes closed, looking like he'd been beaten within a pixel of his life.

"Felix..."

Calhoun raised the hammer, ready to tap her husband back to health.

"Wait." Ralph grabbed her arm. "Let him do it. It might not work for you."

A cold horror washed over Calhoun. If she hit him even once and it didn't work, she'd kill him.

"Felix." She said firmly. "Eyes open."

Slowly, he obeyed her command. "Tammy? Y-You came back."

"Of course I did. Here." She placed the hammer in his hand.

"You got it..." He smiled lopsidedly. "I knew you would."

"We'll talk later." She slowly guided his arm, so the hammer was poised above his chest, and gently lowered it.

A golden bloom spread outward, over Felix's body. Something like a harp rang, and his health bar filled with green. The damage vanished.

"It's never done than before." He remarked cheerfully, sitting up. "Not that I'll complain."

"Felix, what hap-"

Ralph's voice cut sharply as Calhoun delivered a strong uppercut to his jaw. He stumbled backward, one arm protectively around Vanellope.

"What the hell were you thinking Wreck-It?" She bellowed. "He almost died because you and her were off doing God knows what!"

"We were on a quest." Vanellope turned a tear-streaked face to the group. "Huh-he needed m-metal to make nails..."

The little girl burst out sobbing.

"Oh, no, Vanellope, please don't cry. I'm alright now, see?" Felix tried to stop her tears.

"But it's all our fault!" She bawled. "Y-you almost died because we were gone!"

"The important thing is that I'm okay now." Felix laid a hand on her back. "It's alright, honey. I promise."

Vanellope let go of Ralph long enough to cling to Felix instead. He rubbed her back soothingly.

"It's okay. I'm okay now, everything's gonna be fine." He looked up at his wife, silently willing her to let things be.

Calhoun huffed, but didn't take another swing. "The guy who did this to him: is he taken care of?"

"I...I think I killed him." Ralph said quietly.

Felix looked up at him, eyes wide. "You _what_?"

"I don't know what happened! I just punched him, he hit this tree, and he vanished." Ralph looked like he was going to be sick. He'd never killed a person before.

Well, a person who wasn't Felix. And that was only during games, when the worst that could happen was a game over screen.

"Probably just respawned somewhere else." Calhoun growled. "Lucky for him."

"Tammy, you're hurt!" Felix saw the scrapes and bruises on his wife's bare limbs.

"It's no big-" Calhoun gasped as Felix tapped her. Her body was enveloped in a golden glow and the wounds vanished instantly. "...That's different."

"I noticed. Now, are you gonna stop crying, or do I have to use this on you too?" Felix kidded gently as he set Vanellope down.

Vanellope sniffled, but shook her head. "No."

"Okay then." Felix placed the hammer back in it's spot on his belt. "Well, now that all the fuss is done, what do we do next?"

'Same old Felix, just looking to get the job done.'

For once, Ralph wasn't even slightly annoyed by his enthusiasm.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued...

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Glad to hear so many people are liking this. Happy Thanksgiving!**


	6. Chapter 6

Some Fantastic, Chapter Six

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

"So we just get on this train and ride to the central city? That seems easy." Ralph said suspiciously.

"It won't be. The NPC told me it's only for players level twenty and higher; if we get spotted there, we'll be slaughtered for the EXP." Calhoun said grimly. "Otherwise, it's a three day hike."

"We don't have three days." Vanellope pondered. "And we can't get killed. So that leaves…"

"That leaves sneaking on the train." Calhoun nodded northward. "It's a thirty minute run that way. We'll go in a few hours, with the sunrise."

"Why not now?" Felix asked.

"It's too late to move now; I don't want us going through the woods in the dark. It'll only be night for four hours or so. We'll just rest." Calhoun said.

"I'll whip up a shelter." Felix tried not to look worried. Vanellope kept yawning and rubbing her eyes.

Sometimes it was easy to forget she was only a child.

"I'll find something for us to eat." Ralph offered. "Maybe I can get cav-a-tina here to eat some fruit."

"Yuck." Vanellope made a face.

"It won't kill you to eat some fruit that's not dipped in caramel."

"It _might_."

Calhoun didn't notice the hubbub She was sitting on a rock, drawing lines in the dirt with her sword point; some kind of maneuvering strategy, Felix guessed.

He waited until the others had gone before approaching her. "Tammy? Are you okay?"

"Peachy." She didn't look up. "We got your hammer back, and you're fine, so it's back to the plan."

"What if we hadn't gotten it back?"

"What?"

"What if Ralph hadn't caught the man who took my hammer?" Felix seated himself near her.

She stopped drawing. "Do we really need to have this conversation right now?"  
"I'm not asking what you'd do if I'd...if I hadn't gotten better. I want to know what we'd have done if I'd _lived_."

"What are you talking about?" She turned to him.

"Tammy...without my hammer, I'm nothing." He looked down at the dirt, pale and wan. "I never knew it before."

Calhoun reached over and grabbed him by his clothes. "You are not nothing. You got that?"

"What's a handyman without his tool? If I ever lose this," He touched the hammer "I'm done for. And so is Ralph, and all the other Nicelanders. It's not me, Tammy. It's this."

Calhoun let go of him. "You believe I married you for _that_? You believe Ralph and Vanellope are friends with you because of _that_?"

"Well...no."  
"Then you're not worthless."

"Just useless."

"You wanna have a pity party, go ahead. I've got things to do." She turned from him. "But I will point out you healed some damage without your hammer."

"Only because this awful game gave me extra abilities." He frowned. "I don't like it here, Tammy. I don't like _myself_ here."

She turned back to her drawing.

He got to his feet. He had shelters to build.

"Felix."

"Yes?" He stopped, wondering what version of the 'get yourself together' speech he was about to get.

He was utterly surprised to be lifted off his feet and embraced in a passionate kiss.

"I love you, no matter what." Calhoun whispered. "Don't forget that."

"...Yes ma'am." Felix managed after he got his breath back.

0o0o0o0o0

Vanellope was unusually quiet as she and Ralph walked the woods. He was sure he'd spotted fruit trees during their mini-quest.

"Apples. You like apples." He spotted a gleam of red.

"_Candied _apples."

"It's just as good."

"Yeah, sure."

Ralph ignored her. He reached into the tree and waved his large hand around, knocking apples to the ground. It wasn't like they'd starve to death if they didn't eat, but it could be a heck of a distraction.

"Try it." He shined one on his tattered robes and tossed it over.

"Yuck."

"Kid..."

"Fine, I'll try." She bit it and made a face. "It's sour!"

He tried one. "That's how apples are supposed to taste."

"Gross!"  
"Just eat it. If we find something better, you can have it."

"Promise?"

"Sure." Ralph didn't doubt the game had better eating somewhere, but he didn't particularly care. He liked fruit well enough.

"Ralph?"

"Yeah." He gathered the fruit into one large hand. It'd be enough to keep them charged for a while.

"Do you think Calhoun's mad at me?"

"Why would she be?"

"Because we left Felix."

"Kid, if she's mad at anyone besides the jerk who beat him up, it's me." Ralph replied.

'And I'm not so sure I don't agree with her.'

"What kind of dumb game makes you a fighter who can only heal people?" Vanellope took another bite of her apple. "It's stupid."

"Yeah it is. Most fighting is, even inside games."

She look at him curiously. "You're deep sometimes."

"Was that an actual compliment?"

"Don't get too excited. You're deep like a kiddie-pool is to a puddle."

"Gee, thanks." Ralph held a smile in check as they returned to camp. Vanellope's high spirits were returning. He'd take the abuse gladly.

0o0o0o0o0

"Not bad." Ralph surveyed the two structures. They were basically boxes, but Felix had done what he could with the little material they had. They were long and low; Ralph and Calhoun would have to lay down to fit inside.

"Wish I had some bricks." Felix replied wistfully. He was putting the finishing touches on a fire pit. Tammy had grumbled about having a needless fire, but the handyman needed to keep himself busy doing _something_.

"Well, it's just for a quick nap." Ralph reminded him. "It doesn't have to be a palace."

Vanellope was staring at one. "Reminds me of cola mountain."

The structure was less rickety than the one Vanellope had erected herself after Turbo took over her game, but Ralph saw the resemblance. "Yeah. Hey, kid, why don't you eat another apple then try and get some sleep?"

"I'm not hungry anymore." She approached one of the two structures uncertainly. "Are we sharing?"

"Um…I guess."

"Good. I'll need something soft to sleep on." Vanellope yawned.

Ralph rolled his eyes. "You can take the title off the Princess, but you'll never take the Princess outta the girl."

"C'mon, I'm tired." Vanellope whined.

Ralph, knowing an argument would get him nowhere, crammed himself into the small structure, back to the fire and Felix.

Vanellope curled up on his stomach. "Ralph?"

"What?"

"Don't move too much, 'kay?"

"Go to sleep!"

As the chatter died down, Calhoun glanced up from her schematic; Felix had tapped her on the shoulder.

He held an apple out to her. "Eat something, Tamora. Please."

"I don't usually need to." She took the apple.

"I know. Do it for my peace of mind." He gave her a small smile. fixing things always cheered him up.

"Fine. I was just about done."

"You have a plan?"

"Yeah. I'll fill everyone in tomorrow." She devoured the apple. Apparently she was hungerier than she thought.

"Come to bed."

She followed him into the structure. Laying on the ground didn't bother her. She wouldn't be sleeping, anyway; someone had to keep watch. She'd just pretend until Felix dropped off. If he knew she planned to stay awake, he'd insist that he do it.

Felix, however, had never slept on anything but his bed in the penthouse suite. He wasn't about to complain, but it wouldn't be easy for him to rest here.

He snuggled close to her, and she wrapped both arms around him.

"Wish you'd built these things with a door, Fix-It." She murmured in his ear.

Felix turned bright red. "Not enough wood."

"I beg to differ."

"Huh?"

She smiled. The least suggestive of puns always flew right over his head.

"I love you." She curled around him.

"I love you, Tamora Jean." He kissed the side of her face.

She held him tighter than usual that night.

0oo0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Think I'm gonna go into a coma and die now. SOOOOO much food.**


	7. Chapter 7

Some Fantastic, Chapter Seven

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

"We're gonna die. We're gonna die. We're—"

"Can it, Wreck-it." Calhoun snarled. "Draw attention and we _will_ die."

"This is your amazing plan. Just get on the train like everyone else?"

They were approaching a long train, decked out with plenty of gears and clocks. All around them were players of a much higher level, all colors of the rainbow.

Except red.

Felix was wrapped up in Vanellope's cloak. "She's right, brother. If we act like a higher level, no one will suspect we're not. You've gotta fight someone to find out what their level is."

"C'mon Ralph, it'll be fine." Vanellope assured him as they boarded the least crowded car. About half a dozen players milled about, chatting and sparring.

Ralph shook his head, but kept quiet. It was a half hour trip. If they just sat quietly and looked mean enough, they'd get by.

Or so Calhoun said.

He sat down and Vanellope clambered into his lap. Felix sat in between the two larger characters; it was the best protection strategy they'd been able to devise.

As one player eyed them, Calhoun played aimlessly with her sword. Ralph cracked his knuckles.

The player hurried on.

"See?" Vanellope smiled up at him. "Piece of cake."

"Whatever you say, kid."

They rode for about ten minutes with no interruption. Players sparred and trash talked one another (Ralph clamped a massive hand over Vanellope's head early into the ride and kept it there). It was going fine.

[Check that sweet piece of Nymph] A text box popped up between two ogres.

[Bet she'd take a ride on _my_ train. Hey Baby!]

Felix's jaw dropped. Were those two actually making suggestive comments to a lady? _His_ lady?  
[Hey Nympho, why don't you let me check out _your_ equipment? ;)]

"Ignore it, Felix." Calhoun cautioned under her breath. "I've taken worse taunting from my own men."

"B-But they're suggesting…Tammy they're…" Felix was sputtering too badly to get the words out. "They're _making assumptions_ about you!"

"Yeah, I saw. It's fine, Felix."

"No ma'am it is _not_ fine."

"If you get up and say something, they're going to slaughter us." Calhoun smiled sweetly at him. "So shut up."

Felix tried to think of an argument, but nothing was coming. He sat quietly, anger bubbling. He touched the handle of his hammer, knowing it couldn't do a whit of good in a fight.

He could just pretend he didn't see it. Tammy was an adult, she could handle it. He was not going to get a fight started over—

[Bet the little chick would be just the right height for my _special_ missions.]

Calhoun dropped her sword. Ralph hand clenched an iota tighter over Vanellope's head, making sure her eyes were covered.

Felix saw red. Literally. The scene before him as coated in red.

"You apologize right now, sir." He got up, ignoring the color. It felt like he was boiling inside.

[Check it, the other gnome wants to protect his little girlfriend.]

"That is a _child_ you are speaking about. Apologize."

"Felix, let it go." Ralph grabbed him with his free hand.

"Let _what_ go?" Vanellope called out, muffled.

"Felix, it's not worth a fight." Calhoun hissed as Ralph drew him back.

Felix looked back at her coolly. "I can't sit idly by while these…these _uncouth ruffians_ say these things!"

[Ooh, someone's using a thesaurus.] One mocked.

Felix broke free of Ralph's grasp. "Apologize this instant to both these ladies or I'll…I'll…"  
[You'll _what_, little man?]

[He'll go crying to his momma.]

[Lol, who probably has aids. Your mom's a whore, newb.]

[Go back to playing pong, newb.]

[And take your sluts with you.]

The players high-fived, oblivious to Felix's growing anger.

"I think that's about enough." Calhoun stood, sword in her grip.

"I agree." Felix threw back the hood of his cloak.

[ELFLING!]

[RUNRUNRUNR-]

Felix didn't know what happened. His vision turned into a solid red block, and there was a terrible roaring sound. When it cleared, the two ogres were nowhere to be seen.

Neither were the other passengers they'd boarded the train with. Only Ralph, Calhoun and Vanellope were left in the deserted cabin.

Ralph let go of the girl, who looked around curiously. "Where is everyone?"

Felix blinked in surprise. "W-what happened?"

Calhoun stared at him, eyes a mite wider than usual. "Soldier, that is what we call going nuclear."

"What are you talking about? I just saw red and everyone vanished."

Ralph shot Calhoun a look. "He doesn't know?"

"No wonder they wanted to kill you in the last village." Calhoun murmured.

"_What_?!"  
"Apparently, Elflings have a special ability when provoked enough; you just decimated every player in the cabin."

"I…no, I couldn't have."

"Waves of red fire just hit every non-ally in here. They disintegrated." Calhoun knelt down and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Felix, you killed them."

Felix fell away from her touch, horrified. "No, no I _couldn't_ have. I've never killed anything!"  
"Neither had I, before this." Ralph said quietly.

"No, I…I could never. Never!"

"Not even with what they said?" Calhoun pressed.

He went pale. "No. Tammy no, I've never killed a thing. I'm a good guy."

"You still are." She pulled him into a hug. "You did the right thing."

Felix was trembling. Tammy wouldn't lie to him. But how could he have killed six people?  
Four of those people were totally innocent. They hadn't done a thing.

"I killed people who never bothered us!"

"Yeah, sweetie. You did."

Vanellope looked up at Ralph. "Ralph, Felix couldn't _really_ have—"

"He did, kid."

"No! I couldn't. I couldn't!"

"Stark denial is the first stage to acceptance." Calhoun didn't let go as Felix tried to pull away. "But we've got no time for it."

"NO!"

"Yes." She insisted gently. Felix would have to come to terms with what had happened; if they wanted to make it through central alive, it'd have to be before they disembarked. "You acted in defense, and now some annoying teenagers have to respawn. You moved them."

"No Tammy, I _killed them_. Even if they come back, I killed them." Felix shook his head.

"That's right. You did."

Felix jerked in surprise, realizing what he'd said. "You…how did—"

"Psycology of war." She looked over her shoulder at Ralph and Vanellope. "Can you step onto the platform between cars for a sec?"

"Sure. C'mon kid."

Vanellope followed him without protest, although she shot Felix one last curious look.

The moment they left, Felix collapsed into his wife's arms, sobbing.

"I know." She held him tightly.

"Tammy, please, _please_, I couldn't have."

"You did. And it's okay. You did the right thing." She carried him to the bench and sat down. "You saved our lives."

They sat in silence while Felix tried to get himself under control.

"I hate this." He managed.

"Me too. The sooner we get out of this game, the better."

"What if we can't? What if the game assimilating us traps us here?" Felix shuddered. "I…I wasn't programmed to hurt people, Tammy."

"We'll find a way out." She sounded fierce, suddenly. "I'll find a way."

He laid his head on her chest. "I'm sorry for blowing our cover."

"I'm sorry you had to." She kissed him gently.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N And THAT is why I stopped playing WoW. Well, that and the fact that I'm broke and my computer sucks. But MOSTLY the angst!**


	8. Chapter 8

Some Fantastic, Chapter Eight

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

Felix's head was down as Ralph and Vanellope returned to the cabin. They were approaching the end of the line and couldn't wait any longer.

Ralph knew Calhoun would do whatever she had to to get them out of this alive, including whipping Felix into shape. He'd just have to hope the handyman could be unwhipped when it was all over.

If they survived.

"When we get there, just get off the train and follow me." Calhoun ordered as the engine slowed down. "We've gotta head towards the center of the city."

"And you just happen know where that is?" Ralph asked skeptically.

"The little old guy in the last village was very helpful." She grinned sardonically.

Felix looked up, concerned. "Tammy, you didn't hurt him, did you?"

"Nothing a health potion won't fix." She waved it off. "Get under wraps. I don't think Elflings are real prevalent in central either."

Felix shrugged back into his hooded cloak.

"Felix…You…" Ralph tried to find the words. "You okay?"

"Nope. But that's not our problem right now."

"It's okay, Felix." Vanellope gave him hug.

He gave her a tired smile. "Thanks Honey. C'mon, we've still got work to do."

They disembarked quickly into an even bigger crowd than the village had boasted. Calhoun kept one eye on her husband, loath to lose him in the crowd.

"The building we're looking for is called the Temple of Isis. There's a backdoor that'll let us into the code so I can send an email."

"What's it look like?" Vanellope hopped onto Ralph's back.

"No idea. Lots of gold and glitz, I assume."

"Can't we ask someone?" Vanellope peered around. "There are about a zillion exclamation marks."

"Yeah, slaughter eight demon sheep and get my mystic staff of +2 to random encounters." Calhoun grumped. "Ignore 'em. We're already on a quest."

A familiar white question mark popped up above Calhoun's head.

"WHAT THE—"

"No, no!" Ralph grabbed her arm as she swung her sword. "It's a quest marker. Touch it, don't _kill_ it. It might tell us where the stupid temple is."

Calhoun glared at the mark and slapped it. A small map with an arrow pointing away from them appeared.

"Looks like about a mile that way." Felix risked an upwards glance.

"Fine. Let's get moving." She ran as if to lose the mark, Felix's hand clamped in hers.

"What do we do after you send the email?" Felix panted, trying to keep up. He really missed his hop.

"Well, if there's no exit via the central programming, then I'll have to find another outlet. Programmers put loads of back-doors in these things."

"Tammy, really, how do you know all this?!"

"My game has an online version, I told you."

"I was not programmed yesterday. You know way too much about this stuff."

Her run slowed down a fraction. "I was programmed to be a computer expert."

"_WHAT_?!"

"My back-story; I was a child genius who got caught delving into army secrets when I was a teenager. I was given a choice; jail or join up. Apparently the developers though it'd make me more 'relatable' to the players." She shook her head. "Back-story. Screw it."

"You know, I never get tired about learning about you."

The simple earnestness in his voice made the sergeant pause. "You are a sap, Fix-It. Don't ever change."

"Yes Ma'am."

Ralph shuffled awkwardly past players, trying to keep up with Felix and Calhoun.

"They're getting away, rump-roast!"

"I can see that, haggis-head."

"Well, do something. Knock someone over!"

"I'm not starting a fight."

"Aww, you'd win."

"Yeah, not a good time to test that." Ralph puffed and closed the distance. Calhoun had slowed down a fraction. "Just look for massive golden towers, and spirals, and—"

"What about that?" Vanellope pointed.

A small hut with the word 'Isis' scratched above it's wooden door sat, empty and abandoned looking down a narrow alley.

"It can't be. Temples are supposed to be huge and imposing."

"Well, if there's a way into the code, wouldn't they want to hide it." Vanellope shrugged. "It's what I'd do."

"…You actually have something in that sugary little head. I'm impressed." Ralph strode forward and clamped a hand on Calhoun's shoulder. "I think we've found it."

Calhoun eyed the structure. "Smart of the programmers. Doesn't look like anything but a piece of scenery. C'mon."

The didn't bother sneaking; in the crowd it'd only look obvious. They walked in single file.

It was dark and gloomy. A single rude table sat near the far wall.

"This place could use a little fixing." Felix said ruefully.

"Some other time." Calhoun approached the table. "Look for a switch or a hidden door."

"How do we find a hidden door?" Ralph asked, annoyed.

"Same way everything happens in these games: random chance." Calhoun began feeling the walls.

The others began to check walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

"This is really dumb." Ralph grumbled, his large hand tracing cracks in the planks above their heads. "Even if we find it, there'll be a code or a password, which we don't know. How do we get past that? And don't say random chance!"

"Brother, just trust her. She knows what she's doing."

Something in Felix's voice persuaded the wrecker to do just that. He didn't sound angry, or even cross…more like…

Protective?

Ralph shook his head. Things were getting weirder by the minute.

"Hey! I think I found a—WOAH!" Vanellope yelped and vanished into a gaping hole in the floor.

"KID!" Ralph roared and jumped to the spot, ready to hurl himself after her if necessary.

"Little help?" Vanellope was clinging to a bundle of cords just inside the hole.

Ralph snatched her. "You okay?"

"Peachy, pumpkin-puss."

"Good, garbage-gal. Don't scare me like that."

"That's it." Calhoun peered into the vast inky blackness below their feet.

"Jimminay Jamminay." Felix looked awed. "Tammy, it's enormous! We'll never find anything in that."

Calhoun grinned at him. "Get me the rope in the corner, Fix-It. Vanellope, you're lookout. If anyone comes near here, glitch back double-quick."

"Yes!" Vanellope saluted and glitches to the front of the hut.

"What about me?" Ralph asked.

"You get to hold the cord and keep me from plunging into oblivion." Calhoun snatched the rope out of her husband's hands and tied it around her waist.

"Tammy, no! I'll go."

"You have any idea what an email program looks like?"

"Well…no…"

"It's fine. Just stay here and help Ralph.

"Yeah, right." Felix grumbled. "More like just stay out of the way."

"Felix, I love you, but if you don't stop whining I'm going to knock you out." Calhoun kissed him and jumped into the dark anti-gravity of the code.

"Tammy!" Felix peered into the darkness. Tammy was swimming through the blackness like a fish through water. Soon, he lost sight of her.

"Be safe."

0o0o0o0o0

A. A. A presence? Here? It'd been so long. So _long_. It was so dark and quiet with nothing here.

It wanted that quiet back.

It shifted and worked it's way towards the disturbance. This wouldn't take long.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Sorry for the delay. It's been a hectic week.**


	9. Chapter 9

Some Fantastic, Chapter Nine

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

Calhoun swam through the system, her keen eyes tracing lines and paths the others couldn't hope to fine, let alone follow. This was a field almost as familiar as killing.

And she was _very _good at killing.

It wouldn't take long to find an unprotected user account. From there, she just had to access the outgoing mail, mask the origin as being from Magic Quest, and tell Litwak how to fix Fix-It Felix Jr. It was downright simple compared to what they'd already done.

'There.' She spotted a dimly flickering box about a hundred feet below. Someone hadn't used their account in awhile.

She swam to the box and clutched it. Lines of code appeared. She scanned them, nodded, and began crafting her message.

Just as she finished sending, she sensed it, trailing her, getting closer. Yelling for Wreck-It to yank her would leave her vulnerable and expose her position. Not to mention Felix would probably jump in to try and save her.

She began to move smoothly upward. If she could close some of the distance between the portal, she might make it out alive.

'Anti-spy ware.' She growled softly. She'd been so stupid! Of coursethe game had security, it housed thousands of people's personal data, credit card info, everything.

She felt the air below her move. It was getting closer.

0o0o0o0o0

"Tammy?" Felix called. He'd lost sight of his wife some time ago, but periodically called her name.

"Felix, I'm sure she'd fine." Ralph let out a little more line.

"What if she's not? What if she's in trouble, and we can't hear? What if we pull up that cord and all that's left is a raggedy end?" Felix asked, angry and miserable.

"Felix, she's fine." Ralph blew a bored breath at the ceiling. "I'll tug the line again in a few minutes, okay?"

"Not really."

"What do you want me to say? 'Here's some rope, go check it out?' She'd _kill_me."

"Brother, this whole thing has been a mess. I just want to fix it."

"Calhoun is fixing it. She's almost as good as fixing our problems as you are." Ralph smiled. "Remember the time she _though _a cy-bug made it into our game?"

"Brother do I. She nearly tore the whole place apart. I had plenty of work to do _that _night."

Ralph continued to talk about the last six months with his friend, trying to distract the both of them. Ralph was nearly as worried as Felix, but he didn't dare let on, lest the handyman jump into the void after his Dynamite Gal.

"I hope Vanellope's okay."

"You want me to check on her?" Felix perked up.

"Sure. Tell her to check in a little more often." They'd seen the girl only once, when she'd glitched in to report 'a really stupid looking cow-thing' that chatted with her about video games for a few minutes. Naturally, she'd recommended Sugar Rush.

As Felix went to the door, Ralph thought he felt the line shift. He tugged it gently. It spooled into the black depths, out of sight.

It jerked violently in his hands.

"No, no!" He hauled on the slack rope.

"What? What is it?" Felix was back in an instant, Vanellope trailing him.

"I don't know, the rope jerked!" Ralph felt another strong tug. "Something is going on down th-"

Felix grabbed the rope with both hands and dove into the void.

"Felix, wait!" Vanellope perched on the lip, ready to jump after him.

"Oh, no!" Ralph grabbed her. "You stay here!"

"But-"

"But nothing! Felix is going down, and I can't pull the rope and watch the door!" Ralph threw a glance behind him. "So you're staying here!"

Vanellope cast a worried look after Felix, but the handyman vanished into the depths. "What about Felix and Calhoun?"

Ralph shook his head and kept pulling.

0o0o0o0o0

"Tammy!" Felix shouted, half swimming, half climbing down the rope. "Where are you?"

"Felix, get up that blasted rope NOW!" Calhoun hollered from below. "There's a bot on my tail!"

Felix caught sight of her, a hundred feet below, as she swam furiously upwards. There was a bit of slack in the line as Ralph hauled it, and she easily outpaced it.

Below her, something white and bulbous rose from the depths. It was the size of the nicelander's apartments...no diet cola mountain...no. Felix had never seen anything that big before.

"Jiminey jaminey." He felt the blood run from his face. "Tammy, it's getting closer!"

"I know!" She snarled. "Get out of here before that thing spots you!"

Now _there _was an idea.

Felix let go of the rope, and tried to ignore the oddity of anti-gravity. He stroked wildly to the left, like a swimming drowning.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Calhoun screamed from below. "OUT! NOW!"

"Sorry sweetheart." Felix gulped. The creature below them was changing direction, ever so slightly.

Now it was barreling towards him. It moved past Calhoun, and Felix breathed a sigh of relief.

His job wasn't done yet, though.

"Felix!" Calhoun was fifty feet away from the portal, slightly further from her husband. "Get out!"

"No Ma'am. He'll turn tail and come after you." Felix wasn't as strong a swimmer as the creature or his wife. He was losing ground. Quickly.

"Felix, NO!"

He couldn't bear the anguish in her voice. He looked down at her, and put on a brave smile.

"I love you."

The creature closed the gap, and Calhoun lost sight of him.

"NOOO!"

0o0o0o0o0

Vanellope and Ralph watched the scene play out as he hauled rope.

"C'mon Felix, swim, swim!" Ralph hissed. It didn't even look like he was trying to get away. More like...

'He's distracting it.'

"Felix, NO!" He screamed. His voice was lost in the void.

Vanellope stared in horror as the scene played out. "I'll glitch down and get him, Ralph, I can get-"

They both trembled as a massive CRUCH cut off her words.

Felix was gone.

The leviathan, satisfied that an intruder had been stopped, vanished into the depths, to patrol elsewhere.

Ralph continued to pull the rope, hands independent of his mind.

"Felix…" Vanellope whimpered as Calhoun climbed out of the void

Her head was turned, her hair falling over her features. "Let's go."

"Calhoun, we cant' just—"

"What, Wreck-It? We can't WHAT?" She got into his face. There were tears streaming from her eyes. "You're game is going to be unplugged because that…that IDIOT tried to save me!"

"He _did_ save you." Vanellope wept quietly.

"Not the point." Calhoun turned her head. "I'm out. The exit is in a hut like this in the village where we started. I've gotta get home. Hero's Duty I'll be unplugged if I'm missing."

She ran out the door. Ralph let the rope fall from his hands.

"Ralph?" Vanellope went to him. "Ralph, he's not really dead, right?"

"I…I don't know."

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Sorry to leave it there but…I'm gonna. :p Until the next chapter, of course…**


	10. Chapter 10

Some Fantastic, Chapter Ten

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

It was cold. Felix hadn't expected that. Well, he hadn't expected _anything _really. It wasn't like sprites had no notion of what might follow a plug-pulling, but Felix personally had never dwelt on it.

He tried to think through what had just happened, hoping to expose a clue. He'd jumped into the void, distracted the thing that was after Tammy, felt a rush of air, blinding pain, and then...this.

It wasn't exactly helpful.

If you died outside your game, you never regenerated, that was well known. He hadn't technically been in a game, he'd been in the code. Did that make a difference? And what the heck was that thing that'd come after him?

He tried to look around, but found himself immobile. There might as well have been no body surrounding his mind for all he could move and sense.

'I feel the cold, so I must still have a body.' He reasoned.

Well. One mystery solved.

He hoped Tammy was okay. He'd gladly do it all over again, the fear, the pain, the cold lonely darkness, if it meant she was safe. He just wished there were a way to confirm it.

'Like Dad said, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.' He didn't exactly know what a beggar was, but he got the gist of it.

He'd done his duty as a man, and as a loving husband. That would have to be good enough.

0o0o0o0o0

Ralph hadn't spoken or moved since Calhoun left. Vanellope had tried everything she could think of to get him to speak to her, but nothin' doin'.

Time for a nuclear strike.

"I'm gonna go look for his code."

"WHAT?!"

Ahh, _there_was the trigger.

"I'm gonna glitch into the hole, look for his code, and hook it back into the system."

"Kid, Felix's code is _gone_. You know that as well as I do." Ralph turned from the void.

"I can _look_."

"Look and get killed. I lost one friend already, I won't lose two." Ralph grabbed her gently, with both hands.

She was shocked to see tears in his eyes.

"I won't get eaten." She fidgeted uncomfortably. "But I've gotta _know_, Ralph. What if he's still alive, waiting for someone to come get him? You wanna think about that?"

Ralph did, and shuddered. "Kid, there are literally millions of lines of code in there. You think you can find him in all that?"

"Hey, next to Calhoun I've got the most advanced game in the arcade." She shrugged. "If I can't do it, no one can. _Please_."

"...Ten minutes."

"Thirty."

"Fifteen."

"Twenty and I won't fight you on the way home."

"...Deal." Ralph released her. "But you see that thing, you get outta there."

She nodded and glitched out.

The anti-gravity didn't effect her glitching, thank goodness. She zapped all over, looking for something she didn't know how to name. Calhoun had called it a bot, but that was all she had to go on.

'Some kind of anti-intruder thing. So security, intrusion, something like that.' She glitched towards the outer edge, but the space was so vast, it didn't make much headway. Above her, Ralph was yelling that he changed his mind, get back here or he'd make mince-meat pies outta her hide. She ignored it.

"Felix?" She called, hopping about like an impatient, teleporting bird. "Felix, if you can hear me, do something!"

Nothing. Just a quiet hum.

Tears pricked the back of her eyes. She'd been so _sure_. If she'd only moved quicker, she could have saved him. He was dead, and it was all her fault.

She glitched sporadically, not caring if the monster came and swallowed her too. Her game would survive without her. She was a terrible friend. She didn't deserve to go home.

"KID!" Ralph roared. He caught sight of Vanellope glitching wildly, and it was freaking him out. Something was very, very wrong.

Growling, he tied one end of the rope to the alter, and grabbed the other. He took a deep breath and jumped into the void.

"Kid, stop it!" He swam downward. She was moving erratically, but mostly in one direction. "Vanellope, stop!"

She didn't, until she glitched into a mass of wires. She started to struggle frantically.

Ralph swam quickly, his large hands aiding in the task. "Stop thrashing! You're making it worse!"

As he neared, he saw the tears on her face. Tears of rage, frustration, fear, sorrow, he didn't care. She was crying, and he needed to do whatever he could to make it stop.

He reached her, and drew her close with his free hand, mass of wires and all. Vanellope cried into his tattered ogre clothes.

"I know. I know." He rubbed her back, trying to sooth her. He could cry his tears for Felix later. Vanellope needed him now.

"It's all my fault. I could have saved him." She choked out.

"It is notyour fault. You were doing exactly what you were supposed to be doing. Nobody blames you."

Vanellope shook her head, but she didn't argue.

"Let's get you out of there. We've gotta try to catch Calhoun." He lifted one wire delicately. He didn't dare rip the wires out, and make some poor soul out there a glitch.

"What is this?" She tried to get free.

Ralph inspected the large white box most of the wires ran to. "Anti-Spyware."

"THAT'S IT!"

The scream caught him off guard. He dropped the rope for a moment, and grabbed wildly to get it back. "What? What's it?"

Vanellope tapped the box. It opened, revealing dozens of smaller boxes, filled with illegible code. Ralph watched her whiz thru them, confused.

"Kid, what are you looking for?"

"...This." She sounded stunned as she reached out and plucked a small blue box out of the mess. "Ralph, look."

The box bore Felix's 8-bit face.

"Wha...Is that...Is that _Felix_?"

"I think so."

"But...where is he?"

"This is it, Ralph." Vanellope gently placed the box in Ralph's hand. It looked infinitesimally small. "It's Felix, unplugged...from everything."

Ralph swallowed hard and closed his fingers gently over it. "Oh, man. _Felix_."

0o0o0o0o0

A sudden warmth washed over Felix in the void. It felt...he didn't quite know how to describe it.

It felt like _safety_.

0o0o0o0o0

Calhoun slashed through vines with her sword, not noticing her tears. She couldn't cry in front of her troops. She couldn't _cry_. She just had to get home and put this out of her mind. There were Cy-bugs to kill, men to lead, and a game to keep from getting unplugged.

That was her world. That would always be her world. That and no more. No more love. No more friends. She wasn't allowed to have those things.

She should have known better than to try and leave her box. Try and escape and the world just knocked you back in. She wasn't supposed to be happy.

It was in her code.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N The response to this has been outstanding. Thank you everyone! And be sure to keep an eye out for some upcoming fanart…I'm super excited!**


	11. Chapter 11

Some Fantastic, Chapter Eleven

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

"I don't see her!"

"You don't have to tell me that every five seconds." Ralph huffed as he raced to the train station. Calhoun couldn't be _that_ far ahead. "Just tell me if you see something."

"I see a bunch of angry people with sword wounds."

"Okay, you know what? Don't tell me anything."

Vanellope hopped off his shoulders and started run/glitching to keep up.

Ralph cracked his hand open a tiny bit to confirm Felix's code was still there, unharmed. It seemed okay, but what Ralph knew about coding could _also_ fit in the palm of his hand.

He'd suggested plugging Felix into the Magic Quest code. Vanellope pointed out that could bond him to the game, or at least turn some other poor sucker into a glitch. Spare wires weren't just hanging around. They'd agreed; finding Calhoun was the only option.

"Felix, I don't know if you can hear this, but we're going to get you fixed up." Ralph promised as they'd gotten out of the void, feeling a bit dumb. He was talking to a box for Pong's sake.

Vanellope hadn't made fun of him, though.

He closed his hand, careful not to crush the code. After thirty years it was probably fragile.

"When we get to the train, just do what we did before." He shoved a smaller ogre aside as they neared the platform.

"Sit still while people say nasty stuff and die?"

"...Just be quiet."

They boarded the last car. It was nearly empty. There was no sign of Calhoun.

Vanellope sat on a bench. "What are we going to tell her? Hi, we found what's left of Felix, any ideas how to get him back to normal?"

"I don't know. I've never seen her like that." Ralph sat with her. "We'll get her to listen, even if I've gotta go to Hero's Duty to do it."

A small 'pfft' of laughter from below made him smile.

"That still gets you?"

"Every time."

Ralph looked at the adjoining car. The small window revealed a few players, but nobody even remotely resembled Calhoun.

"What if she didn't make it to the train?"

"Kid, we saw a trail of injuries all the way up to the platform. Where else would she be?"

"Well, she could have gotten into a fight or captured, or something."

"I doubt it. Calhoun is the most exper..." He trailed off as he gazed out the window. The train was beginning to pull away from the station.

Calhoun was being held by two large, heavily armed NPCs. Her sword was stuck through one of their arms. She was snarling something as they marched her away.

"SON OF A KONG!" Ralph bellowed, snatched Vanellope by the hood of her robe, and raced for the caboose's door. He jumped, barely aware of the train's acceleration.

He hit the ground and took off running. He could see the large plumes of the guard's helmets as they marched through the crowd.

"They broke character." Vanellope grabbed onto Ralph's arm, steadying herself. "She must have done something awful."

Ralph pushed the code into her hand. "Kid, it might get ugly. If something happens, take Felix and get back to game central station."

"No! I'm not going home without you."

"I'm not asking Vanellope. I can't save her and you too. Promise me!" Ralph growled. He was nearly at the guard's backs.

"Fine. But what if-"

She broke off as Ralph dropped her to the ground, and took a swing at the nearest guard.

"Hey, that's my FRIEND!" He roared. The punch knocked the creature's helmet off. It turned, it's head lizard-like. Narrow pupils glared at him from yellow eyes.

"Whatsssssssss it to ya?"

"Um..." Ralph hadn't expected the thing to still be talking after the blow. "...I'm here to save the lady?"

Calhoun shot him a dirty look. "Go home, Wreck-It. I've got this under control."

The second Lizard Guard dropped Calhoun's arm and drew a long club. "Sssssseems like we got a hero."

"Take care of it." The first guard grabbed Calhoun around the waist, picked her up, and started to carry her off.

Bad idea.

Calhoun screamed, clawed, and-Ralph blinked in horror-BIT the guard. They began to fight in earnest. Before Ralph could move to help her, the second guard set on him.

"OW!" He roared as the club ricocheted off his shoulders. "Okay, no more Mr. Nicelander!"

Vanellope watched from the edge of a growing crowd around the combatants. She could try turning the guards into stone, but what if she missed and hit Ralph or Calhoun? If she tried to fight, she just get booted back to the sidelines.

Not to mention what might happen to Felix's code if it was smashed.

She gripped it tightly, trying to come up with a plan. Stressed, she began to glitch.

0o0o0o0o0

'Vanellope?!'

Felix's eyes would have widened, if he could have moved. For a split second, he'd seen Vanellope in the darkness. She'd been fuzzy and pixelated, but she'd been there.

More disturbing, she seemed to be a giant, towering over him. Something was definitely wrong here.

Come to think of it, the feeling of warmth and safety that had washed over him not that long ago had changed. Now, he felt nervous, buzzy, and _energetic_. Being immobile was driving him mad. He wanted to jump, run, yell, race, anything.

'What in the world is happening to me?'

0o0o0o0o0

"Calhoun-OOF-You've gotta get Vanellope and-YOW!-Get outta here!"

"Working on it!" Calhoun snarled. She was matching the lizard in agility, but the thing outweighed her by a couple hundred pounds. "Why don't you go?!"

"Because we have Felix's code!" Ralph tossed his assailant into the crowd.

Calhoun stopped dead for a split second. "What?"

It was too long. The lizard smashed the club onto her head. She crumpled into a heap.

"NOOOO!" Vanellope shrieked, glitched to her side, grabbed her hand, and the two vanished.

"KID!" Ralph swung at the monster as it froze, shocked. It flew backwards, hit a wall, and lay motionless.

"Here!" Vanellope shouted from beyond the crowd. Ralph sped through the bystanders, knocking them aside.

Blood. Not good. Ralph scooped Vanellope into one arm, Calhoun into the other, and took off, roughly parallel to the train tracks into the forest.

He kept his eyes off Calhoun's face, waiting for her to snap at him, demand to see the code, anything.

Just so he knew she was alive.

"Ralph, she looks bad."

"I know. Give me a few minutes to lose the crowd. We'll see what we can do." Ralph risked a look.

There was a long gash across her face, close to her eye. She'd missed being blinded by mere pixels. The health bar on the hem of her skirt was nearly filled with red.

"Oh..." He swallowed hard. "Kid, see if you can stop the bleeding.

"I-I'll try..." A tear slipped down Vanellope's face. "I wish Felix was here."

"Me too." He hadn't wished for anything this bad since the Cy Bug attack on Sugar Rush.

"Calhoun? I'm gonna give you something to hold. Please don't drop it." Vanellope whispered into her pointed ear, pushing the box into her hands. "It's Felix's code.

Calhoun's pale blue hands grasped the box in a death grip.

Vanellope smiled faintly. "Good job Sarge."

0o0o0o0o0

Pain. So much pain. He'd though getting caught by the bot was bad. He'd thought the fall from the tree was bad. This was unspeakable. His heart was going to burst from it. He'd let someone down. He hadn't been good enough. He hadn't followed his code, and now someone else was paying the price. Again. He'd never been good enough, he'd never be good enough. He deserved this.

Felix tried to stop the deluge of thoughts that scarcely seemed to belong to him. The warmth was gone. The safety was gone. All that remained was cold, dark pain.

'Tammy!" He cried out in the darkness. 'Tammy darlin', I'm so sorry!'

'Felix?'

No. No, that couldn't be. Tammy was safe, he'd saved her, he was only hearing what he wanted to hear. Tammy could not be in this place. He'd only cried out her name because he'd been scared. That was all. She wasn't here.

'Felix, if that's you and you don't answer me, I'm going to hit you so hard you'll think you've gone into overdrive.'

'Tammy?' He didn't understand how they could be talking when he couldn't even move, but there was a lot he didn't understand about this place. 'Tammy, is that you?'

'Yeah, Fix-It. It's me.'

'Are...are you dead?'

'Not sure. You?'

'I thought I was.' His head was spinning.

'Last I heard, Vanellope and Ralph snagged your code from the abyss.'

'WHAT?'

'Not sure about what happened. I got hit pretty hard right after he told me.'

'Tammy, stop. Just rest. If you're hurt, Ralph and Vanellope will do something.' Things were beginning to make a little more sense. 'I know they will.'

'You're an idiot.' Her voice was getting faint. 'You got yourself killed.'

'To save you.'

'I would have made it.'

'...Please don't lie to me, Tamora.'

She was quiet.

'I'd do it again.'

'You'd be an idiot.' She snapped. 'If we survive this and you ever try that again, I'll lock you in the bunker for the rest of your life.'

'I'm sorry you had to watch.'

She went quiet again.

'It wasn't your fault, Tammy. It was my decision. You didn't do anything wrong, and you didn't deserve to see it.' He tried to sound bold and confident. 'You deserve to be happy.'

'How did you know?' She sounded almost frightened. Almost.

'I'm getting little brain waves from everyone. Guess on some level I just knew it was you.'

'If you ever say anything-'

'I wouldn't.'

'...Yeah. I guess not.' She was barely audible.

'Tell them to be careful when you wake up, darlin'.'

'Sure thing, Fix-It.'

There was no time for long goodbyes.

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued...

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N To everyone following me on , keep an eye on the Deviant account version of my story for upcoming fanart! To all my readers, regardless of where you are, thanks for all the reviews! Each and every one makes my day. **


	12. Chapter 12

Some Fantastic, Chapter Twelve

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

Calhoun's eyes opened. The light was noticeably dimmer. Their time to get home was running out.

"Where's the lug?" She groaned and sat up. She was laying under a tall tree. Vanellope was nearby, watching a small fire.

"CALHOUN!"

Calhoun grunted as the child flung her arms around her waist. "Easy kid, damaged goods here."

"Sorry." Vanellope let go. "Ralph went to try and find something to eat; food can get your hp up."

"Good thinking." She looked down at the small blue box in her fingers. "Hmm. Wasn't a dream."

"What wasn't?"

Calhoun managed a grin. "Felix says be careful."

"YOU TALKED TO HIM?!" Vanellope bounced in excitement.

"Yeah. No idea how." Calhoun leaned back. "But he's in there."

Vanellope's smile lasted for another nanosecond before she burst into tears.

"Whoa, whoa. No tears, soldier."

"I just...I thought you were both dead." Vanellope wiped her eyes, embarrassed.

"Been there. But we're not." Calhoun carefully placed the code into Vanellope's hands. "I need you to hold onto this."

"Why?"

"Because Felix can sense a little about who's holding him, and I don't want him feeling my injuries."

Vanellope nodded, determined. "I'll be careful."

"You'll be perfect, or I'll kick your sugary behind up and down that cavity you call a game."

Vanellope nodded, smiling. "I'll get Ralph."

"Do that."

The smile fell off Calhoun's face. She brought up her health bar. Three bars of green. Not good, but she wouldn't die from a slight bump. If Ralph managed to find something edible, she'd be able to walk. She _needed _to be able to run. They had to get on that train and hightail it back to Felix's game. They had to get Felix's code plugged back into the system before the arcade opened. They had a few hours at best.

At least he was alive. That was a start.

A loud crash brought her back to reality. Ralph was running through the trees, hands full of apples. "Calhoun! You okay?"

"Been better. Toss me one."

He did. "Vanellope says you and Felix talked."

"Yeah." She devoured the apple, and her health went up a bar.

"What did he say? Is he alright? Can he—"

"Easy, Wreck-It. He's okay. We just need to get him home and plugged in. I got the email out before the anti-spy ware attacked, so Litwak's got all the info he needs to get the game fixed."

Ralph let out a sigh of relief and sat next to her. "So…we've just gotta get back on the train."

"Yeah, 'just' that. You know how lucky we were not to get killed the first time? Felix can't vaporize our problems now." She started on a second apple. "And we don't have a healer if things go sour."

"…Dang."

"These games are rotten to new players." Vanellope grumbled.

"We're trying to circumvent the rules." Calhoun shrugged. "If we were actual players and did all the boring quests like they're supposed to, it'd be okay."

"I don't see the appeal. With my game, you only have one goal. Get to the top and knock me off." Ralph shook his head. "All kids want today is a never-ending series of kill this, collect that, level up, and do it all again. I don't get it."

"Rats pushing a feeder bar." Vanellope said sourly.

"Easy half-pint; a version of my game is an MMORPG. They're not all bad."

"Sorry." Vanellope looked at the code in her hands. "I don't like games where you have to kill people."

Ralph put a hand on her shoulder. "Me either, kid."

0o0o0o0o0

The buzzy energy was back; Vanellope must have been in charge of his code. Felix wasn't quite sure how that was working but he was willing to let it go. Tammy was alive. The others were okay. Even if he had to stay in this frozen wasteland forever, he knew that.

It didn't help him feel less lonely, though. Felix had always been a people-program; he didn't much care for solitude. It wasn't in his code to go it alone.

Tammy would tell him to man up and get over it. Ralph would have said 'at least nobody's trying to kill you.' Vanellope would have cracked a joke.

'I wish I knew more about programming.' If his code was disconnected like Vanellope's had been, why wasn't he a glitch? Was it because he'd been outside his game when it happened? Could he even be hooked back into his system? Or due to the higgledy-piggledy mess he was in, if he was back in his game would he still have the red skin, pointed ears and…and…

No. He didn't want those powers, not now, not ever. What if he blew his top and vaporized someone? What if he accidentally hurt Ralph during a game? Ralph was thrown off the roof often enough, but he didn't die because of it.

Ralph had _never_ died.

It wasn't pleasant, but Felix was used to it. A moment of cold darkness, then back on his feet, either to fix again, or wait until the next game.

Death was actually a lot like _this_ place, come to think of it. And he wouldn't wish that on anyone.

0o0o0o0o0

"You're only up to half!" Ralph jogged behind as Calhoun made her way to the train tracks. "If something happens—"

"If something happens you take your 8-bit butt back to the arcade and get Felix fixed. Got it?"

"Yeah, and when he finds out you're not there?" Vanellope asked. "What do we do if that happens?"

"He'll deal with it. The pipsqueak is tougher than he looks." Calhoun said quietly. "We didn't go through all this to lose him now."

The next train was slowly coming towards them in the fading light of day. If they didn't catch this one, they'd never make it back to game central station in time.

"When it get's close, we jump on. Ralph, you got the kid?"

"Check."

"Vanellope, you got Felix?"

"Check." She was holding the code for dear life.

"Okay. On three. O—"

Ralph snatched her off the ground and jumped onto the roof of the train.

"What are you doing?!"

"If we're not in the cabin, we can't get killed by players!" Ralph said triumphantly.

"Good job. How about the eldritch horrors the train protects the players from?" Calhoun demanded.

"The what now?"

"You have no idea what you've just done, do you?" She got into his face as the wind picked up around them. "These transports exists for a reason, Wreck-It! It takes newbs three days to get across the landscape because they need to circumvent the monsters attracted to the train!"

"Um…we…we could just climb in a window?"

"Uh, I don't think so…" Vanellope's eyes widened as metal sheets slid over the windows of the train. "Guys, it's getting really dark!"

"I know." Calhoun drew her sword. "Time to get ready for the show, ladies."

0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N I think we're close to the end. One or two more chapters ought to do it.**


	13. Chapter 13

Some Fantastic, chapter Thirteen

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

The twilight was almost completely faded. The growls in the darkness were getting louder. Ralph and Calhoun stood looking outwards, Vanellope between them. Her little hands were wrapped firmly around his code.

"So, it's like...ghosts? Or ninjas?"

"You have no idea how far video game monsters have progressed, do you?" Calhoun grumbled. "There could be anything from werewolves to tentacle-faced gods ready to suck the souls out of our still-living bodies and feast on the horrors within."

Ralph's face looked even greener, if possible. "Oh."

"Yeah. If we're lucky it'll just be some vampire bats. I'd even take vampires, if that's the weakest thing the game has to throw at us."

"And, um, if we get knocked off the train?" Vanellope asked hesitantly.

"You run for the town and don't stop, no matter what." Ralph said sharply. "No heroics, kid."

"The ginger's right. If something does knock you off, just start running.

"Your games will be unplugged without you. Mine can go for a while without me." Vanellope argued. "I can turn monsters into stone! Neither of you can do anything that cool."

"I don't care if you can turn 'em into candy, you're in charge of Felix. If you have to run, you run." Calhoun got onto one knee, and looked her in the face. "Even if it means we're left behind. Got it, cupcake?"

Vanellope looked troubled, but nodded. "Okay."

A howl sounded near the car. Ralph shuddered. "We're moving pretty fast. You sure something can-"

A loud THUD interrupted him. An impossibly tall, slender humanoid dressed in long black robes stood before them. Several tentacles wavered around it's head. It's faceless head.

"This is an elder God?" Ralph lifted a fist. The thing was a foot taller than he was, but he had to outweigh it by at least four hundred pounds.

"No idea who this joker is." Calhoun aimed her blade at it. "Keep moving, ugly. You don't want anyof what I am right now."

The thing cocked it's head, tentacles wavering, unsure. There was a moment of silence before a strange wheeze started up.

Ralph realized it was _laughing_. "Okay, not cool."

He swung at the thing, which easily dodged, still laughing. Calhoun sliced at it, barely missing as it gracefully stepped aside, walking on the tentacles like an anorexic spider.

A tentacle slashed through the air, striking Ralph's shoulder. He yelled as it sank into the scaly green flesh. Bright blood welled up in the darkness as the appendage lifted away.

"Ralph!"

"It's fine kid, just stay back!" Ralph bellowed, ignoring the burning sensation. "Calhoun, watch the arms!"

She dodged a limb aimed at hear heart. Even at half strength, she was more flexible than the wrecker. "Knock him off!"

"Working on it!" Ralph swung again, missing the thing by mere inches.

Vanellope edged as far back as she could without falling off the train. If she could get a clear shot at the monster, she'd turn it into stone. But with Calhoun and Ralph dancing around it, she didn't dare.

And she could swear the thing was looking _right at her_.

Frightened, she began to glitch.

0o0o0o0o0

'-OhNoNoNotGoodWhyIsItLookingA tMeMakeItStop-'

Felix felt the wave of terror hit just as the thoughts crashed down on his head. It sounded like Vanellope running her gums at a million miles a minute.

'Vanellope? Honey, if that's you, talk to me.'

'-RalphRalphLookOutItsCalhounD odgeOhGoodSheWaitNoNotThere-'

Her huge image flickered in the darkness, face a pale lavender beneath her hood, eyes wide with terror. To Felix's amazement, he could see a little beyond her. Tammy and Ralph shifted in and out of focus.

Something dark was beyond them.

'-NoNoNoLetMeTryToDon'tFallOffPleaseIDon'tWannaBeAloneBeOkayFelixIWis hPleaseBeHere-'

He saw a blurred image as something tried to get closer to Vanellope. Ralph tackled the thing, and crashed heavily to the ground. It was all silent, but Felix could see his friend's face twisted in pain. Blood was running down his arm.

'Ralph! Hang on Brother, I'll...I'll...'

He couldn't do anything.

'-RalphRalphRALPHGetUpRunGoYou AwfulThingStayAwayFromHim-'

The image shifted. Vanellope was running at the creature.

'Vanellope, NO!'

'-SorrySorrySorryHaveToDoHaveT oTryCan'tLetItFelixI'mSorryWon'tDropYouPleaseBeOkay-'

A faceless horror reared out of the darkness, nearly touching her. She glitched as it reached for her.

Felix felt something strike him, and then he was falling.

To his amazement, he caught himself, landing on his hands a knees. His pink-fleshed, handyman clothed hands and knees.

"Felix?!" Three voices rang out in a mix of amazement, horror, and joy.

He looked up. A hugely tall thing leered down at him, wheezing with laughter.

"Oh my lands." Felix forced a whisper out.

"Felix, move away from it." Calhoun's voice was low and dangerous. "We'll sort it out later."

A whip like appendage shot over his head towards the group huddled behind him. "NO!"

Ralph jumped in front of the women. The tentacle pierced him through the chest.

Ralph gasped and sank to his knees. His eyes slid closed, and he collapsed.

"NOO!" Vanellope glitched wildly, bolts shooting from her hands. One of them struck the monster's outstretched tentacle, still embedded in Ralph. It turned to stone, the gray working it's way back to the slender man.

The thing hissed at the group, ripped the limb off, and jumped back into the darkness.

"Ralph, Ralph, talk to me!" Vanellope shook his shoulder as hard as she could. "Ralph you talk to me right now or I'll never forgive you!"

Felix went to his side. "Brother, wake up!"

"Felix?" Ralph opened his eyes. "How did you-"

"No idea. Just hang on Brother, we'll get that thing outta you." Felix wrapped his hands around it and looked to his wife. "Tammy, help me pull!"

Wordlessly, she placed her hands over his.

"When I say go, we pull it out, and then I'll fix him up. It...It's gonna hurt."

"It'd hurt worse if it was acidic poison like in my arm. Good job, Vanellope." Ralph gave her a small smile.

"I had to."

"I know."

"On three, Tammy. One. Two." He took a deep breath. They pulled.

Ralph cried out, and Felix almost lost his grip. Calhoun's strong hands stayed locked around his, and he continued to tug. Slowly, the thing slid free. Before blood could well out of the wound, he swung his hammer. The golden bloom of health spread outwards from the hole. Ralph stopped yelling.

"I'm so sorry we had to do that." Felix said mournfully.

"How did you get here?" Ralph asked once he got his breath back.

"I'm not sure. That thing hit me while Vanellope was glitching, and somehow..." He looked to his wife. "Darlin', you're the expert."

"Not on this." Calhoun looked troubled. "It restored you to your normal body. You shouldn't be able to interact with anything in the game, since you're unplugged from it. But you just fixed Ralph. It makes no sense."

"If either of you say anything about the power of love, I'm gonna throw up." Vanellope said, trying to act like she hadn't been worried about Ralph.

"Love schmuv. I think Felix's programming is so simple the game couldn't change anything but the most outward layer. It's like carving a rock; you can only get so deep." Calhoun was all business again.

"I'd make the obvious joke about density, but you just saved my life." Ralph sat up, still a tad woozy.

"These games are so malleable, anything can happen." Calhoun said.

The slender man obviously had a great sense of dramatic timing. It chose that moment to loom out of the darkness.

"Stay back." She shoved Felix and Vanellope together.

Before he could tap her and bring her health up, she sprinted towards the monster, sword up. Ralph jumped to his feet, but sank back down again almost instantly. His bar was full, but his body felt like it'd been though an all-night lock in. He just couldn't fight.

"Felix, she's only up to half! If that thing touches her, she's had it!"

Felix shot into the fray.

0o0o0o0o0

To Be Continued...

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Can't leave it at unlucky 13, can we? No, I think one more oughta do it. And yes, I know very little about programming. Before you call Hax, I'd like to remind everyone that this is based on a movie where video game characters are alive and can game jump. Nothing I add is gonna be more insane than that.**

**Honestly though, I had no idea he was gonna come back like that. The little devil surprised me. **


	14. Chapter 14

Some Fantastic, Chapter Fourteen

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

Felix narrowly avoided slamming into his wife's leg when he plunged into the fray. She swung a sword at the slender monster, but it dodged. The stump of it's tentacle dripped something oozy and neon-blue onto the train, making the metal sizzle.

It was no longer laughing.

Felix managed to touch the hammer to Calhoun's leg as she tried to leap over him, the golden bloom flashing over her.

"Not now, Fix-It!"

"No other time!" He scrabbled back, ready to jump in if the thing so much as breathed on her.

"You don't have any attack power. Stay out of the way!" She landed a small hit on the thing's flank. It hissed at her as the blue substance began to slip out.

Ralph, still woozy and weak from his fight, tried to get to his feet. The world swam out of focus, and he dropped to his hands and knees. It didn't help that the train was whipping down the tracks at an impossible speed.

"Kid, the rules haven't changed. That thing gets the upper hand, you get out of here."

"Nuh-uh. Felix is back, and I saved your life with my powers. I'm not going anywhere." She crossed her arms defiantly.

"I know, but I had to at least say it."

Felix watched his wife work on the monster, mesmerized. She was scoring a series of small but deep cuts, and the thing hadn't been able to lay a hand on her. He'd seen her shoot cy-bugs before, but that wasn't like this. This was like a dance. She'd never picked up a sword before yesterday, but her programming made her a deadly threat with anything.

The thing jumped over her blade, twisted mid-air, and a drop of blue poison fell into her eyes as she turned her face upwards.

"ARRGH!"

"Calhoun!"

"No!"

"TAMORA!"

The shouts rang out together as she fell to the floor, hands to her face. Felix was at her side instantly, hammer gently touching her face, tiny golden blooms covering her. She rolled away from him, groaning in pain.

"Tammy, let me help you!"

Her hands dropped away from her face. Her eyes were red and teary, but otherwise unharmed. "I'm fine, it's residual eff-MOVE!"

The thing lunged at the couple, and time slowed down. Felix saw it coming at them, limbs grasping, the wheezing laugh starting up.

That thing tried to kill his wife and his best friend.

He saw red.

"You MONSTER!"

He heard a quiet roar begin, and closed his eyes, letting it wash over him. This time he wouldn't fight it. This wasn't some kid making rude comments, or a NPC doing its job. This was a monster, programmed to hurt, maim, kill. There might have been something inside, something that went to a bar with other NPCs when the game was in a lull, or told jokes at dinner with friends, but Felix didn't care.

He didn't.

It had pushed him to the edge, and he wasn't sorry to do this. Not in the least. He could kill this thing and not care.

If that was the lie he had to tell himself to save Tammy, he'd do it gladly. He simply wasn't programmed to hurt.

Ralph had proved programming wasn't everything.

The roar stopped, the red faded, and the quiet rush of air slipping past the train was all that remained. Felix opened his eyes.

His handyman clothes were gone again, replaced with robes. Devil-red skin peeked out from under the long, strange gloves.

Well, at least one of the monsters was gone.

"Are you guys okay?" Vanellope didn't leave Ralph's side.

"Been better." Calhoun grunted. "Its not a hit-point thing, but my eyes are gonna sting like a bad mega-man villain for a while. Plus everything's blurry. I'm not blind, though."

Felix helped her to her feet. "We've gotta get out of here before that thing's friends come along. How much longer is this ride?"

"Just a few minutes." Calhoun squinted into the darkness. "Worst possible time to be up here, with Ralph and I out for the count."

"Hey, I…I'm…" Ralph stood, wobbling unsteadily. "…I'm gonna sit."

"Good."

"Tammy, when we get back to the town I'll just cover up, and Vanellope and I will lead you to…to…where are we going?"

"Small hut, two clicks north of the railstation." Calhoun placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping tightly. "You get found out and killed when we're so Mother Brain-Loving close, I'll never forgive you."

"Of course, my Lady."

Whatever Felix had done to make the creepy thin guy go away seemed to keep everything else off their backs, Vanellope noted. They hit the station, Ralph and Calhoun managed to get down without breaking their necks, and Felix covered himself up. It should have been smooth sailing to get to the hut that lead back to game central station.

The arcade was going to open any minute, if it hadn't already. She'd sorta lost track of time. Her game would be fine, and with Fix-It Felix likely unplugged for repairs, Ralph and Felix would be cool.

That still left a half-blind Calhoun to get back to her game in time.

"When we hit the ground, just start running. If anything follows us back to game central station, they'll realize their mistake and get out." Calhoun ordered. She gripped her husband's hand tightly. "Felix, get that hood up."

Wordlessly, Felix replaced the hood. He'd almost forgotten that everyone around here wanted him dead.

He couldn't forget why, though.

"Ralph, can you walk?" Vanellope watched her friend sway woozily as the train slowed.

I'll manage." He gave her a thumbs up. His green scales looked a good deal paler than they had before the fight.

"If you puke, I'm _so_ pretending I don't know you."

"Fair enough."

"On three." Calhoun squinted at the platform. More beings were crowded around it than she would have liked. "One—T—"

An icy pain stabbed into her back. She gasped as the strength fled her body, legs going limp. She would have tumbled off the train if Felix hasn't hauled on her arm.

"Tammy!"

Her eyes went wide as she saw their attacker. It was the same player that'd been turned to stone by Vanellope…and beaten Felix within a bar of his life.

This man had nearly killed her husband.

"YAHHHHHHH!" She tore free of Felix's grasp, strength coming from she knew not where. She was going to kill him. She'd find the strength.

Ralph lunged forward, trying to grab her. "Calhoun, stop!"

His fingers ghosted through her. She passed through the player too. The momentum of her attack carried her through the player. Her feet stumbled over the edge of the train, and she dropped from sight.

"TAMMY!" Felix leapt after her.

The player turned, ready to follow them over the edge and finish his work. Until Ralph tackled him.

"What did you just do?" The wrecker roared.

The player thrashed under him. "I was trying to kill that stupid elfling! It took me forever to respawn last time. Not my fault the stupid noob got in the way!"

"What the heck is this thing?" Vanellope wrenched a strange looking sword out of his hands. It glowed a faint blue.

"Geez, it's just a ghost blade! HP goes down, and you've just gotta wait cuz you can't grab a potion or anything. Minor annoyance!" The man huffed. "What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

"Don't call us people." Ralph smashed a hand on the man's head, knocking him senseless.

"Oh…Ralph…" Vanellope was peering over the side of the train, eyes huge. "Problem…"

Ralph dragged himself over. Calhoun was laying on the ground, her pale blue skin turning transparent. Her clothes, oddly enough, seemed as solid as ever. Felix's hammer could strike them, no problem. But it ghosted through her flesh.

"I can fix it, I can fix it…" Felix chanted urgently, trying to heal his wife. "C'mon, you've always worked before, fix it, fix it!"

"Felix, stop." Calhoun hissed. Her health bar was open, and dropping rapidly. "You _can't_ fix it."

"Like fun I can't!" Felix looked up at Vanellope and Ralph. Tears were running down his face.

"No, you can't. Jerkwad just explained." Ralph eased himself over the side, Vanellope glitching beside him. "It turns you into a ghost before you die, so you just have to wait. He called it a 'minor annoyance.'"

"W…what are you saying?"

"They're saying I'm gonna die." Calhoun grimaced. "Can't be helped."

"We've got to get her home." Vanellope said. "If we get her home, it might stop or she could just respawn like norm—"

She found herself speaking to Ralph alone. Felix had grabbed Calhoun in a fireman's carry (it was the only way he could get her fully off the ground) and was running towards the outer rim of huts.

Ralph struggled to keep up, but he could only manage a fast trot. "Kid, even if she dies at home, we don't know how her code will react. She could still just…"

"I know." She matched Ralph's pace, itching to go faster, not daring to leave him behind.

"Felix…just…"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I'm not about top entertain the idea of leaving you behind or trying to get away any slower to keep myself covered up." Felix said grimly as he rushed past players and NPCs alike.

"…You're perceptive today."

"Just hang on Tammy." Felix tried to ignore the shouts of the people behind them. "I'll fix it."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He risked a glance back; her health bar was down to 20%. "Save your strength, darlin'."

He wouldn't let her see how scared he was. He'd be strong for her as long as he had to be. Goodness knew she'd been strong for him.

He ducked through the darkened doorway. It was bigger on the inside of the hut than on the outside; a very good sign.

He plunged ahead, hoping that they wouldn't be separated like when they'd come to Magic Quest. If they were, it could waste precious seconds.

To his horror, everything went dark, and the weight was gone from his shoulders. "Tammy! Just hang on, it's like before!"

He groped blindly forwards, waiting for the blinding light, the robotic voice of judgment, _anything_.

What he got was the sight of Game Central Station, and his wife lying motionless on the ground. Her skin was still pale blue, although her garments were back to battle armor and laser blasters.

"Tammy!" He snatched her up. "Darlin', say something!"

"...something." She gave him a small smile.

"You never make jokes." Felix lifted her into his arms and ran for Hero's Duty. Her limbs would trail on the ground, but it couldn't be helped.

The health bar was gone., No way to tell how close she was to being deleted.

"Games have started." She hissed as they passed his entrance.

"I don't care."

"You'll wreck…everything we worked for." Her eyes slid closed.

He felt no regret or hesitation as he raced inside Hero's Duty. The super-sonic tram, so like the one in Magic Quest, took them almost instantly to the bunker.

"What happened to the Sarge?" One of her men stared at Felix in horror.

"She's dying." He snapped. "Keep an eye out for players. It what she'd want you to be doing."

The man snapped off a salute and hurried away.

Felix laid her in a quiet spot. She didn't look any better.

Now, he just had to wait for her to die.

0o0o0o0o0

To be concluded…

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Yep, one more chapter/epilogue thing coming. Sorry for the wait; I wanted to make sure I did this right.**


	15. Chapter 15

Some Fantastic, Chapter Fifteen

By GirlX2

0o0o0o0o0

All he wanted to do was hold her hand. Her fingers twitched occasionally, nails sliding through the dirt; ghosting through the dirt, actually. Her eyes were closed. She hadn't spoken since telling him he'd wrecked everything they'd worked for.

He'd just have to hope the game was down for repairs, or that nobody was playing it. If someone saw that he and Ralph were gone, no amount of emails would save them.

He laid a hand on the arm of her suit, the battle gear still solid. He hoped she could feel that.

"I'm sorry. But if it comes to my game or you, I'll always pick you, Darlin'. The others can hate me, but it won't change a thing." He restrained himself from gripping his hammer and trying to bring her out of it.

He'd tried so many times already.

She was going to die. The only question was whether or not she'd come back.

Her skin was still blue, ears still pointed. Her clothing had changed back to normal, but that was all. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Felix noted his appearance was back to normal as well, sink flesh toned, clothing simple work duds. He hoped Ralph and Vanellope were home already. He wouldn't be able to go check until this was over.

Calhoun groaned, and her body fuzzed beneath her clothes, almost like when Vanellope glitched. It was nearly over.

Felix swallowed hard. "Tamora Jean, if I can come back from being swallowed whole, you can beat this. Try for me, Darlin'. Please."

She gave no sign that she'd heard.

"Incoming quarters!" One of her men shouted. "We need Sarge NOW!"

"She's still…she's not…" Felix floundered, and tried to think of what Tammy would do. "Martinez! Take Sarge's spot, and set the difficulty to high!"

"I'm not cleared to-"

"Just do it!"

The harried soldier took Calhoun's spot as the game began. Felix wondered if he could drag her to a safer spot before the bugs started flying. He had no attack power now.

He reached out to take her blaster away; he'd shot it before, and had gotten pretty good at knocking those things out of the air.

As he touched it, she vanished, clothes, blaster, and all.

Tammy had died.

Somewhere in the distance, soldiers were yelling and blasting at things. If she'd been alive, he would have tried to find some better cover than the uneven, rocky ground.

How long did it take her to respawn? They'd never discussed it. When he died it took less than five seconds for him to spring back, even when it was GAME OVER.

There was no sign of her.

Felix's throat was tight. What if they were wrong? What if she couldn't respawn because her death began in another game?

No. No, he couldn't think like that. This game would end, and she would reappear.

Everything was going to be fine.

The beacon went off in the distance. Cy-bugs flew towards it, mighty wings droning.

Calhoun was nowhere to be seen.

Felix got to his feet as Martinez approached. "Where does she respawn?"

"In the bunker." He looked unhappily towards the massing men. "Sir, I don't see her. What happened?"

"Something...something in Magic Quest made her lose health..." Felix swallowed thickly. "She was saving my game."

The man said nothing.

"Do...do you know where the entrance to the code is?"

"Wha-no. No, I cannot let a civilian barge into our programming and-"

"DO YOU WANT HER ALIVE?!"

The bellow caught Martinez off guard. He'd never heard Sarge's husband speak like that. "Of course I do."

"Then you'll show me the way in."

"What are you going to do?"

Felix tugged his cap down low. "I'm gonna fix it."

0o0o0o0o0

Ralph felt the pain and fatigue slide away as he and Vanellope emerged into the bright, deserted, game central station.

"Oh man, we're late."

"My game'll be fine. We've gotta get you to yours." She pushed him towards the enterance.

"I've gotta find Felix!"

"He'll be in hero's duty. We've gotta get back before someone tries to play-" Vanellope trailed off as she caught sight of a line of Nicelanders and Q*Bert refugees streaming from the entrance to Fix-It Felix, muttering to themselves.

Gene spotted Ralph and frowned. "Ralph, where were you? And where's Felix?"

"What's going on?" Ralph tried to look past him, making sure everyone was out. "We're not out of order again, are we?"

"No, just down for repairs." Gene huffed. "We could have used you two during the evacuation, though! Where-"

The man trailed off as Ralph and Vanellope sprinted towards Hero's duty.

"You can all stay in the caaaaaastle!' Vanellope hollered as they vanished into the war-game.

Gene shook his head. Whatever was going on, he was sure those two hadn't helped matters any.

0o0o0o0o0

Felix stood in front of the open portal, rope tied around his waist, one hand on his hammer. "Unless I yell to be pulled up, don't pull. You got that, soldier? No matter what else you hear or see."

"Yes, sir." Martinez looked into the tangle of code doubtfully. "Sir, if her code's been warped, you won't be able to-"

Felix dove into the void, losing the rest of Martinez's words. The codeing around him was less complex than Magic Quest; there was less of it anyway. In the center he saw a huge box with many other wires streaming from it. 'Sargent Tamora Jean Calhoun'.

It was blinking intermittently. Several wires were twisted, a few pulled from their sockets.

Well. He was a handyman, and no stranger to wiring.

Felix set about his task, hammer firmly in his belt. This was one thing he'd fix himself.

0o0o0o0o0

"I don't see her!" Vanellope peered about the barren landscape. "Stinkbrain, anything?"

"Nada." Ralph saw no sign of Calhoun or his partner. "We could ask one of her men."

"They barely tolerate Felix, they're not gonna talk to us." Vanellope snorted.

"Then let's keep looking, Boogerface." Ralph hoped he sounded calmer than he was. He didn't want to freak Vanellope out by losing his cool now.

Something on the edge of his vision flickered. He focused on it. A crumpled form in black armor lay in the dirt where nobody had been a second ago.

"Calhoun!" He raced for the form. She was already on her feet when they reached her. "Are you alright?"

"Where's Felix?" She demanded.

"She's alright." Vanellope grinned. "We don't know where Felix is, he-"

"Sarge!" One of her men waved at her from a small nearby structure.

"I'm gonna kill him!" She snarled and charged for the outpost.

"Think we should do something?" Vanellope asked.

"Kid, they're both alive, and my game is saved. What happens now is strictly a married couple thing." Ralph shook his head, "Besides, We've got some explaining to do for the Nicelanders."

"Joy." Vanellope grumbled.

0o0o0o0o0

She'd been dead plenty of times before. This had been different. She'd felt torn, pulled between the two game worlds, unable to shake off the blue Nymph mantle and respawn. She'd felt something inside her click, and then she was home in the barren waste lands. Felix had messed with her code. He'd come here to save her, instead of going home and saving his own game. He'd nearly died to save his game, and he'd risked it all again for her.

If he was okay, she was gonna drag him back to the apartments, drop him off the roof, and watch him respawn until he promised never to do something so idiotically noble again.

"Martinez, get my idiot husband out of our programing this instant!" She ordered as she crossed the hut's threshold.

"Already done, Sarge." Martinez hurried out of the hut and back to his assigned post. He didn't want to be anywhere near the Sarge right now.

Felix stood in front of the closed portal doors, eyes wide. "Tammy."

"Don't you Tammy me, Short St-"

Her words ended on a whoof of breath as Felix latched onto her in a bone-crushing hug.

"I know you're gonna tan my hide for what I did. Just give me a minute." His whole body was trembling. "I thought I lost you."

She slowly raised her arms and wrapped him in a hug. "Idiot. You're never gonna get rid of me that easy."

She was still pissed. But she was also alive. So she'd let it slide. This time.

0o0o0o0o0

It took a few days to install the new tech in their old cabinet. The nicelanders were given 'minimum intel', as directed by Calhoun. Ralph agreed that they didn't need to know how close they'd come to being unplugged. They were all fairly amiable to Vanellope while staying in the castle, so Ralph had no real complaints.

The night they were fixed, Felix and Ralph headed to Tappers to celebrate. Something was a little off about Felix. Ralph hoped some guy time would be the cure.

He suspected something else was bothering his partner, though.

"So, Calhoun forgave you for being a dope?" Ralph kidded gently after they got their drinks.

Felix didn't smile. "Yes, Tammy has."

"So what's the problem?"

"Ralph...It's your game too. You almost died trying to save it, and I might have wrecked everything by fixing Tammy instead of coming home."

"Felix, I won't forgive you for that." Ralph laid a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing to forgive, brother. I would have done the same thing. We're good."

At this, Felix finally smiled. "Thanks, brother."

0o0o0o0o0

The End

0o0o0o0o0

**A/N Wow, that turned out waaaay longer than I anticipated. Thank you to everyone who read/faved/commented/DREW FREAKIN' FANART for it. That stuff makes my ever-lovin' day. Will there be more WIR fic from me in the future? I don't know. I have a few ideas cooking away...**


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